


Since We First Met

by Mintaka14



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M, Season/Series 01, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-03-09 00:40:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 50,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18905968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mintaka14/pseuds/Mintaka14
Summary: Darien Chiba has been focused on only one thing for a very long time - to find and save his dream princess - until the day a certain blonde girl crashed into his world. This is a fanfic that I published many years ago on another site. It's based on the first season of the 1995 dub version of Sailor Moon, and I've given it some minor editing since its original publication.





	1. Chapter 1

**Since We First Met**

**A Sailor Moon Fanfiction**

**by Mintaka14**

 

 

**Chapter One**

 

Do I have to tell the story

Of a thousand rainy days since we first met …

                                                                                [Sting]

 

              Darien Chiba woke in the library with a choking breath, his eyes dry and sore. As the last wisps of dream vanished like smoke, he dragged one hand up to pinch at the blossoming headache between his dark blue eyes, and the papers under him crumpled as his hand moved across them. With infinite care, he lifted his head and stared blankly at the litter of books across the library desk. After the shadows of his dreams, the harsh fluorescent lights between the rows of bookshelves were unnervingly brilliant, and in that strange, blurred state his face felt odd.

_No mask. Lord, the dreams are getting so real, I can almost feel it still._

            “Damn.” He raked heavy, dark hair back from his face, wincing. “Damn it …”

 

            _The monster disintegrated with his rose in its heart, and he fell heavily. With some difficulty, his breath catching against his bruised ribs, he lifted his head to see his princess standing her ground in the moonlit shadows, her face a pale blur as he pushed himself to his knees before her._

_One slender hand lifted towards him and brushed his dark hair._

_“Please,” he pleaded, his voice cracking a little. “Tell me how I can free you.”_

_His princess looked down at him unhappily, and still he couldn’t see her face in the shadows._

_“Oh, beloved,” her voice was a whisper. “You know I can’t tell you that. You have to find the way.” Tears glittered silver and slid down her cheek._

_“Endure a little longer.” Her tears fell like rain over his upturned face, leaking into the corners of his mouth. “Please…”_

_As her presence faded into faint moonlight, his hands clenched, nails digging into his flesh, his eyes closed in pain._

_He was alone again. Always alone._

            In the silence of the library, Darien sighed, and swore again as he caught a glimpse of his watch flashing at him. Quickly he swung to his feet, stuffing notebooks and papers into his bag, bundling up books and trying to push one arm through the sleeve of his old green jacket at the same time. He bent to snatch up a book as it dropped, and slung the bag against his shoulder as he almost sprinted past the empty desks and corridors of books, and out the wide front doors. Outside, the air was heavy and still, and he looked up at the crescent moon hanging above him in the summer night sky.

            He felt like death, and probably looked it, but he had to catch up with Andrew and get the notes he’d missed before Andrew left work for the night. It was already much later than it should have been, thanks to his little nap.

            Darien grimaced slightly, flicking another glance at his watch. He’d been pushing himself hard lately – working hard, studying hard, falling asleep only to dream of _her_ again. Little things were starting to trigger those blinding headaches, and he was jumping at shadows. Which was why, he always swore afterwards, he never saw it coming at him out of the darkness.

            “Yeouch!”

            A small, slender figure barrelled into him around the corner, squeaking in surprise as she smacked into his chest.

            “Ow!”

            Darien, bag and books went flying, and the girl sat down with a painful thump on the path. With a groan, Darien scrabbled after the books and papers spilled from his bag, trying to rescue them before they could blow away. He wiped his biology textbook with a corner of his jacket and looked up to find himself nose to nose with a young girl in pink shorts and a white blouse crouching on the path, his books in her hands and a slightly apologetic expression in her big blue eyes. She pushed her long golden pigtails out of her face, hugging his books to her for a moment as he glared at her.

            “Hey, I’m sorry about crashing into you like that,” she offered. She tilted the books in her arms, reading his name on the top notebook. “Darien Chiba … nice name. You see, Dad’s going to kill me if I’m late, and …”

Darien pulled the books out of her hands.

            “Yeah, well, next time watch where you’re going, blondie.” He scrambled to his feet, shoving books back into his bag. He glanced at his watch again, and groaned, as the girl got up. “You’re a real road hazard.”

            As he strode away, he thought he heard her stamp her foot.

            “I _said_ I was sorry!” she yelled after him. “Jerk!”

            Darien kept moving, the bag slapping sharply against his back as he slung it over his shoulder. Involuntarily, he glanced back once at the girl as she sprinted around the corner away from him, her hair a brief flicker of gold under the streetlights, and in the warm summer night he caught the faint scent of roses. A stab of pain behind his eyes reminded him of the headache.

            _Focus, Chiba,_ he told himself, turning away. He glanced up at the dirty blue and white sign of a newsstand, still two blocks away from the arcade where Andrew worked, and broke into a run.

            Under the neon red sign of the Crown Video Arcade, fizzing faintly with static in the night air, a boy with a mess of sandy hair and wide, friendly eyes was pulling the doors shut as Darien skidded to a halt beside him. He straightened, giving Darien an open smile.

            “Nothing like leaving it to the last moment,” he said cheerfully. “What happened to you?”

            Darien shrugged, silent. He shifted the weight of his bag against his shoulder as Andrew locked the doors and shook them a little to make sure.

            “Professor Tanaka was a bit annoyed that his star student was missing.”

            Darien muttered a curse under his breath.

            "Did I miss anything?"

            "I've got all the lecture notes, and we've got a paper due for physics next week. So what's wrong? It's not like you to miss a whole day's lectures. Are you sick? Have you been to the doctor?"

            "Look, it's nothing like that," Darien said impatiently. "I just fell asleep."

            Andrew made an exasperated sound. "All day? You crashed out for the whole day? Chiba, you work way too hard."

            Darien’s gaze slid away into the darkness as Andrew sighed and dropped to a crouch on the footpath, ferreting through his backpack for something. He dragged a dog-eared notebook out and held it up.

            “Jenny was asking about you,” he said, keeping hold of the book as Darien reached out to take it. Darien raised an eyebrow.

            “Jenny Kaneda,” Andrew repeated. “And you don’t even care, do you.”

            "Should I care?" Darien asked. He started to walk away, and Andrew had to jog to catch up.

            "There are guys who would kill to be in your shoes, and you can’t even remember her name. Or Sarah. Or Michelle, who was pretty cut up, by the way.”

            Darien shrugged. "She asked if I was going to the dinner Friday night, I said no. What more was there to say?"

            "How about … look, will you slow down for a minute? … How about, do you want to go out with me?"

            "Why, Andrew. I never knew you cared. What would Rita think?" Darien asked deadpan. Andrew punched his arm. "Seriously, Andrew, I've got better things to do than waste my time with all those games."

            "What better things?" Andrew interrupted. "I bet you were planning on spending Friday holed up in the library again." And Darien shrugged again. "Then why don’t you come out with Rita and me? It’ll be fun,” he said hopefully.

            "Can't," Darien responded laconically, and Andrew lifted an eyebrow.

            "Man, you work too hard," he sighed, as Darien kept walking. “You need a night off. Give me your address and I’ll even come and pick you up. Your place can’t be all that bad,” he joked, but Darien didn’t respond. Andrew meant well, but they’d had this argument before.

            He walked swiftly down the street in silence, and Andrew followed.

            “I don’t know why I bother,” Andrew finally said in exasperation.

            “No, nor do I,” Darien responded.

            “You’re going to kill yourself with all this work if you’re not careful. You look terrible.”

            “I’m fine,” Darien said curtly.

            “Fine?” Andrew stopped dead, one hand on Darien’s shoulder. “You’re as white as a sheet, and you look like you haven’t slept in days. At least come down to the coffee shop with me and eat something.”

            “Will you stop trying to mother me?” Darien snapped, and Andrew’s hand dropped from his shoulder in surprise.

            “Well, it looks like someone needs to,” he said dryly. “All work and no play makes Darien a very sick boy. Or didn’t your mother ever tell you that.”

            “I wouldn’t know,” Darien muttered under his breath.

            Andrew shook his head in concern.

            “Darien, what’s going on? It’s not just the exams, is it? You’ve been out of it for a couple of days now. Is something wrong?”

            Darien could feel that familiar chill in his eyes, and without thinking he put more distance between them as Andrew broke into a sprint to catch up with him. In that moment he regretted ever letting down his guard, even a little, but Andrew had been so persistent. There was no real reason why Andrew should have chosen to befriend him - except, Darien thought a little cynically, that in Andrew’s happy little world a loner like Darien was a challenge - but one way or the other Darien had found himself unable to keep Andrew at bay as he had everyone else.

            “I’m fine,” he said flatly, backing away as Andrew’s face drew up in a frown of disbelief and resignation.

            “Yeah, sure,” Andrew sighed. “Come by the arcade tomorrow,” he called after him, “and I’ll have the anatomy papers for you.”

            Darien half-turned, giving Andrew a perfunctory wave as he strode away. He felt an almost guilty sense of relief as he crossed the road, dodging between the cars, and Andrew was swallowed by the noise of the late traffic. There were still a few people on the streets, and he pushed past them without really seeing anyone, one hand lifting to rub at his eyes as another burst of pain showered across his vision.

            _Chiba, you seriously need sleep._

            He almost laughed at the thought. Falling asleep only meant that he would dream again, and his dreams were driving him to distraction. They were always about _her_ , and they were exquisite torture, but hardly restful.

            He shook his head slightly. Even he was beginning to realise that he was way beyond obsessed with the dreams. He knew … he _knew_ … that the girl in his dreams was real, and for a long, long time now he had been searching for her. There had to be something, somewhere, that would tell him who she was, and how he could find her.

            He pushed heavy dark hair back from his face. Andrew accused him of studying too hard; if he knew how much time Darien spent chasing dreams, he'd have him committed.

            As Darien turned another corner, the side streets grew narrower with only the regular light from house windows spilling down over the footpath. Beside him, the stone wall of the embankment rose steeply up to the tall, thin houses perched over it, and he reached out briefly, leaning into one hand on the cold stone, as the lane ended abruptly in the wash of light from a busy street. On the other side of the street, Darien looked up at the towering golden windows of an apartment building, and the cool, blank patch of darkness near the top. His apartment.

            “There has to be a way to find her,” he muttered, his dark eyes bleak with exhaustion. “There just has to be.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

 

All good people asleep tonight

I’m all by myself in your silver light

I would gaze at your face the whole night through

I’d go out of my mind but for you.

                                                                                [Sting]

 

           

            Darien pushed the door of his apartment open, leaning against the doorframe for a moment with his eyes closed before he stepped inside. Before the empty silence inside could get to him, he flipped the switch on the stereo and dropped his bag with a loud thud beside the coffee table.

            Another stab of pain spiked behind his eyes as he stared blindly at the black and neon skyline outside his apartment window, which was one of the few legacies he had from his dead parents. The only other things he had from that time before the car accident that had killed them were a photo that someone had told him was his parents, a tiny golden music box that he’d been clutching when they brought him to the hospital, and a blurred memory of a girl who had kept him alive after the accident and stood between him and his nightmares when they became so bad that the doctors had had to sedate him to keep him from screaming.

            At first, the girl was nothing more than a bright presence while he slept, a warm hand in his dreams, but as he’d grown older the dreams of his princess became more real. He began to look for her in the darkness, hoping to catch a glimpse of her face in the shadowed moonlight, because after the accident she was all he had left to cling to.

            There was no family to claim him. Even ten years later, everything still felt so unreal. His name, the photo, everything he’d been told about his life before the accident, it all felt as if it belonged to someone else. For as long as he could remember, he had been alone.

            Except for his princess.

            Darien’s hand shook slightly as he reached out to the gold music box. Gently, he opened the box with one finger, closing his eyes as it chimed its pretty little tune. For just a moment, he could almost see… almost remember… _Crystal and candles, a sea of masked faces, a flicker of ivory silk and a haunted whisper of melody the last time that… that… That WHAT?!_

As the memory slipped out of his grasp, a short cry of frustration escaped him. The lid of the music box shut with a faint snap and he opened his eyes, feeling more lost than ever.

            Darien absently put the music box back in its place on the bookcase and moved to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. He’d gone past the point where coffee kept him awake and into that strange state of exhaustion where even the faint ripple of violins from the stereo echoed metallically in his head and everything took on a hazy appearance, but the warmth of the mug in his hands helped a little. He drank a mouthful of coffee that he didn’t even taste.

            Over the years he’d tried everything that he could think of to find something that might lead him to his princess. He’d searched through records and histories and obscure sources until it became an obsession, going further and further down some very strange paths to find less than nothing, and as he dropped into the couch his gaze fell on the signs of his latest misguided efforts. His expression tightened with distaste as he pushed aside the pile of notes on past-life regression and hypnosis that were scattered across the coffee table.

            He dropped Andrew’s notebook on top of the mess, determined to focus on the very real upcoming exams, and he raked his hair back, smothering a yawn.

            As the inky scrawl of Andrew’s figures and equations began to blur around the edges, Darien tried to force his eyes open, staring through the haze as sleep finally caught up with him and left him without the energy to even get up from the couch or push the books aside.

 

_In a strange purple sky the stars burned bright and cold, so close he almost thought he could reach out and touch them, and the air was thick with the smell of roses. The stars shivered as a sound like thunder crashed across the sky, and marble columns trembled and fell around him in a heavy white rain. Turrets and minarets collapsed with a muted roar as a black tide flooded the sky._

_And as the world crumbled around her, his princess wept. Darien’s hand went out to her._

_With a faint wail, like a broken-hearted child, she turned and hid her face against his shoulder, and Darien's arms closed around her tentatively, protectively. She was warm and real in his arms, and he realised with faint shock and wonder that he had never touched his princess like this before. If he could only see her face, he would know …_

_"This was my home," she whispered against him, and his arms tightened around her. "A long, long time ago, but it's all gone now. I have nothing left."_

_"You have me," he breathed into her hair. "I'll always be here for you."_

_At the touch of his breath she began to fade like mist. His hands clutched involuntarily as she slipped through his fingers._

_“I want to live again. To be with you.” Her ghostlike hand stretched out to him across the spiralling shadows that separated them. “Time is running out."_

_"Tell me how I can free you," he pleaded once more, and for one brief moment he thought he saw ... recognised ..._

_"There is one way," she whispered swiftly. "Find the Imperium Silver Crystal."_

_And as a sudden crack of thunder shuddered around them, she spun away from him in a rain of gold and light that dazzled his eyes._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

 

The way she walks by

I see a wave of colour

                                                                                                [Ivan Lins & Brenda Russell]

 

            Darien woke himself from his dreams with his own startled cry in the late afternoon with red-gold light spilling through the curtains and onto the floor of his living-room. Wedged under him, his arm was numb and his fingers prickled as he lifted a hand to pinch at the headache already forming behind his eyes.

            As he slowly levered himself to his feet, he winced. Somehow, he’d slept through the night and into the next day, passed out over his study notes. This was becoming a bad habit.

            He managed to find the coffee and boil the kettle without opening his eyes properly. For some reason, the heavy afternoon light hurt. _Isn’t a hangover only supposed to happen after drinking?_ Even thinking too loud only made the headache worse.

            Ignoring the nausea that threatened, he gulped down a mug of coffee, shuddering. It was time to try and resurrect what was left of the day, and Darien grabbed his coat from the couch where he’d thrown it. As an afterthought, he slid a pair of sunglasses on. _Bright light, bad,_ he thought grimly, reaching for the doorhandle.

            As the lift reached the ground floor with a little thud that jarred his aching skull, Darien almost thought better of it. _Just an hour at the arcade,_ he promised himself. _One hour, and then back to the library._

            The dream had left him with a headache, but it had also, finally, miraculously, given him a hint. Before he could turn around and head home, he made himself take that last, fateful step out into the big, wide world. The doors slammed shut behind him.

            The warm air prickled with the electricity of a summer storm, harsh with the sharp grating sound of the cicadas, and Darien glanced up into the afternoon sun, grimacing slightly behind his sunglasses. He shoved his hands deep into his coat pockets, tensing as a crowd of school kids pushed past, giggling, on their way home from school. The noise grated on his nerves like a knife on glass, and he frowned darkly at the pavement.

            _The Imperium Silver Crystal._

             In his pockets his hands curled, remembering the brief, warm feel of her silken hair sliding through his fingers.

_And this is my only clue so far._

            Darien glanced up at the sound of a faint wail, just as the young girl walking in front of him wadded up a piece of paper and threw it over her shoulder. If he hadn't been so tired, if his reflexes weren't shot to hell, he would have caught it. As it was, he ended up with a face full of paper before he could react.

            "Hey! Watch it," he complained, and the girl turned quickly, gold pigtails blowing around her in the breeze. Oh, great. The blonde hazard. She scowled as she recognised him and he tilted an eyebrow at her, holding up the paper in his hand. "Yours, I believe?"

            "That's mine!" She snatched at it, and he held it out of reach, straightening the crumpled paper, and raised an eyebrow at the marks in red ink all over her test paper. No wonder she was upset.

            "Thirty? Looks like you need to study a bit harder, blondie."

            She crossed her arms, staring straight past him with a mulish expression on her face. So she was ignoring him, was she?

            "Are you stupid, or just incredibly lazy?" he asked casually, and that got all the reaction he could have wanted as she rounded on him suddenly. Blue eyes blazing with a furious fire, she wrenched the paper out of his hands and stomped away, muttering under her breath.

            "Arrogant jerk." She tossed her gold pigtails as she pushed past him, turning to give him a withering look that he somehow found very hard to take seriously.

            Darien grinned slightly, then the smile slid away as he found himself staring into a flurry of gold and sunshine as the girl spun around and bolted.

            "There's something about her," he muttered, and someone smacked into his arm as they passed, mumbling a distracted apology, as Darien frowned. The strange moment was gone, and he glanced up at the Crown Video Arcade sign in garish red neon over the street as the arcade doors slid open.

            Once inside, Darien paused for a moment, closing his eyes against the bright lights, and felt a certain strange peace settle around him in the tinny noise. In the rows of gaudy machines a handful of kids stared ferociously at the blinking screens, ignoring the sharp whistles and beeps. In an odd way, this was the most solitary place in Azabu-Juban; everyone here was absorbed in their own private world.

            "Hey, Darien!" Andrew called out cheerfully from the counter along one side, and Darien nodded without saying anything. Andrew looked at him more closely. "You look like hell."

            "Thanks," Darien said dryly. He slid onto a barstool, leaning heavily on the counter. "You always say the nicest things."

            Andrew rolled his eyes. "So what happened? Yesterday you sleep the whole day, and today you look like you’ve been hit by a truck. Are you sure you're not coming down with something?"

            "I'm just tired," Darien said curtly. He frowned down at his hands. "Too many dreams, not enough sleep."

            "You know, I could have just dropped the notes in on my way home." Andrew pushed a cup of coffee at him. "If you'd given me your address ..."

            "It's okay," Darien cut him off dismissively.

            "You sure? You really do look like you shouldn't be wandering the streets. The state you're in, you'll wind up walking in front of a car or something."

            "Or a blonde," Darien muttered.

            "Hunh?" Andrew asked. He shook his head. "See, now you're talking to yourself." But Darien didn't laugh, and Andrew sighed. "Okay. I'm off work in half an hour. I'll give you a lift home."

            "It's okay," Darien insisted. He stared into the murky depths of his coffee, idly stirring patterns in the cream with a teaspoon, and changed the subject before Andrew could start insisting on being concerned again. "So did I miss anything much in class?"

            "Jenny was asking about you again," Andrew said.

            Darien shrugged. "She'll get over it."

            "You know, I think it's like a game now. Who's going to be the one to bring down the unassailable Darien Chiba."

            "Oh, lord," Darien said contemptuously. He dropped the teaspoon with a ringing clatter.

            "Some of the guys are convinced you're gay. And, you know, if you are there’s a really nice guy in my maths class I could introduce you to."

            "Just because I'm a little more discriminating about the women I date…"

            "Discriminating?" Andrew snorted and reached across to rearrange a stack of pamphlets on the counter. "I don't think I've ever seen you look twice at any woman. You're not discriminating, Darien. You're prejudiced."

            Darien shook his head slightly.

            "I'm still waiting for my dream girl," he said. In one unpleasantly cool and bitter mouthful, he drained the coffee cup without noticing.

            As Andrew scooped up his cup and turned to clear away the glasses at the other end of the counter, Darien kept staring into space. Was he really that indifferent? He was still thinking about it as he threw himself onto his couch that night, surrounded by the usual scatter of books and paper, and his fingers raked back the hair from his face as he stared at the ceiling.

            It wasn't so much that he was indifferent to other women, he thought vaguely, but he had seen perfection in his dreams so how could he settle for anything less? In the moonlight shadows on his living-room walls he saw a glimmer of golden hair and the beautiful curve of her cheek that melted into shadow again as he strained to see more clearly. He heard the echo of her voice in his mind and closed his eyes. She was no more substantial than a hint of elusive memory, yet he never questioned the knowledge that he loved a girl he'd only ever met in his dreams. And that his life was nothing without her.

            Darien shrugged slightly, tilting his head back against the roughened leather as his eyes drifted shut. In the vague darkness he sighed, and a warmth ghosted against his hair, breathing a faint whisper of love. And as he fell asleep

 

            _She was there._

_In the quivering shadows something stalked her as she turned to him, one hand outstretched, and Darien threw himself forward with a hoarse cry as the monster attacked, a razor sharp rose flying from his hand. The creature fell back and shrieked, and fled._

_Darien pursued the monster through the spiralling dream landscape, flying, his eyes coldly calculating behind the mask. He raised one hand, rose poised …_

_And flinched as something flashed through him. The landscape lurched under his feet …_

            And there was brick, and concrete, and the sour smell of car exhaust. Darien caught at a wall, his glove snagging on the rough brick, as he fell. It felt too solid, too real, and he looked up, bewildered, into the bright neon sign of a jewellery shop.

            "This isn't ..." He pulled himself to his feet, touching the wall tentatively with one shaking hand. "... this isn't a dream."

            He turned slowly, flinching at the bright, unexpectedly harsh lights and signs above him. What had happened to the dream? How had he got here? And he slowly lifted his hands ... gloved hands ... to touch the mask across his eyes. This was real.

            And so was the monster in the jewellery shop.

            He could see it clearly through the window, its true nature distorting the illusion it had drawn around it of an impeccably dressed woman. It was grinning evilly at something, or someone, and Darien moved silently closer, easing through the shadows, sliding unseen into the barely lit spaces of the shop.

            Someone was speaking to the creature. Well, perhaps declaiming was a more accurate term. Darien rolled his eyes in disbelief as he realised that it was a girl's light voice giving the creature a long-winded speech about love and justice. He sighed faintly – she was lucky the monster was too stupid to attack first.

            Who was this girl, and what was she doing? Darien shifted position warily to assess the situation. His glance swept quickly over the creature, flicking over possible weaknesses and possible points of attack.

            He froze as the pool of moonlight lit up the slender figure that stepped forward, bright on the white spandex suit she wore.

            A skimpy little sailor suit and red-heeled boots? And that skirt couldn't possibly have been any shorter. What was the girl thinking? But she was shaking so badly he could see it, even in the dim light. She was terrified. This girl was no match for the monster.

            "... and in the name of the Moon, I will punish you!" she cried, a faint tremor of nerves in her voice. What, in the name of all that was holy, did she think she was doing?

            Then the monster attacked, and Darien tensed as the Sailor girl went flying with a small scream, one hand clapped over her knee. The monster wheeled around, laughing madly. This would be nothing short of blood-sport. She was going to get herself killed, unless he distracted the monster and gave her a chance.

            Darien stepped out of the shadows, conjuring a rose from the darkness. With one quick movement, he flung it at the monster and it shrieked as the rose struck the ground before it. Surely she'd have the sense to run away while she had the chance.

            “Aren’t you the big, bad demon,” he said dryly, and the creature whipped around, glaring into the shadows. The Sailor girl turned quickly, trying to find him, as he stepped out of the darkness, and he saw her blue eyes go wide. For an instant, he had a strange sense of disorientation …

            Until a snarl of fury brought him back.

            “Why don’t you try picking on someone your own size?” he suggested.

            He was ready for it as it flew at him, sidestepping the creature effortlessly, drawing its attention. And as he glanced quickly at the girl, a black cat was winding itself around her ankles anxiously, trying to get her attention, but she stood there in frozen terror.

            Darien groaned. She should be running by now; he couldn’t keep the demon’s attention forever.

            And the cat shouted, "Use your tiara!"

            Darien's mouth almost fell open in shock. The cat spoke. And Sailor girl pulled the tiara from her hair, a sudden look of fierce, scared determination in her eyes. She hurled the tiara at the monster like a discus.

            "Moon Tiara Magic!" she shouted, and the tiara struck in a shower of sparks. Shrieking pain and defiance, the monster disintegrated, as Sailor girl stood there, panting and surprised. Darien had to admit, he was mildly impressed. He hadn't thought she had it in her.

            "Not bad," he told her, and her head shot up, eyes widening in shock. He flipped her a mocking salute, and slid back into the shadows.

            There was a sickening lurch as the shadows tilted around him and threw him down, and Darien felt himself falling, and falling, and then, with a thud that jarred through his back and quivered down to his fingertips, he reached out and touched the twisted bedsheets underneath him. Slowly, carefully, he opened his eyes and stared up at the white ceiling.

            _A dream._ He lifted a hand, surprised to find that it was shaking a little, and touched his face. _No mask. It was just a dream._

            He winced as his fingers found a bruise where … a bruise … surely that hadn’t been there last night?

            With dawning horror, Darien tried to remember getting up from the couch and going to bed. He closed his eyes, pressing the heels of his palms against them, and groaned.

            _Oh, no …_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four**

 

What is this force that binds the stars?

I wore this mask to hide my scars

[Sting]

 

            _And now a girl in a spandex sailor suit_ , Darien thought a little grimly in the silence of the library. He rubbed unconsciously at a bruise on his shoulder, and squinted up at the bookshelves. _What next?_

            He ran his fingers over the spines of the books, pulling one out as he found what he was looking for. As he flicked rapidly through the index and drew a blank, pushing the book impatiently back into place and reaching for another, he thought he felt a breath down the back of his neck.

            _“… Warmer. You’re getting warmer … Oh, too cold …”_

            “Will you stop that?” he said without thinking. “It’s very distracting.”

            There was a hint of a giggle, and then it was gone. Darien looked up to find a woman staring over the edge of her glasses at him in wary surprise. He quickly bundled the book into his arms and beat a hasty retreat.

            He slowed a little as he reached the foyer of the library and joined the queue at the checkout counter, reaching up to push his fingers through his hair in frustration.

            “And now I’m hearing voices in the daytime,” he muttered under his breath, hitching the armload of books a little more securely. He glanced down at the book he’d snatched from the shelves as the librarian scanned it out. Was that the one that had been warmer, or too cold?

            Darien groaned, and eased one of the doors open with his elbow. The door swung shut behind him as he stepped out into the hot sunshine.

            “Studying hard, I see.”

            Darien’s attention snapped as a girl with dark hair pushed away from the library wall and fell into step beside him. He recognised her vaguely from his physics lectures.

            With a mischievous little smile, she spun around in front of him and snatched a handful of photocopies from the mound of books and papers in his arms, flicking through them.

            “Physics papers, more physics … birth registers … the history of the French nobility … I didn’t know you were studying history. Or is this something personal?” She backed out of reach as he held out his hand, smiling up at him through long dark lashes. She flipped another page. “The Scientific Basis of Memory Repression? Dry reading.”

            As she dropped the papers back into his hands Darien met her flirtatious little look impassively. Pretty enough, objectively speaking, but … _Pushy_ , Darien decided, glancing down with distaste as she touched his shoulder. _Taking just a little too much for granted, aren’t we?_

            “You don’t talk much about yourself, do you,” she said, trying to draw a smile that he refused to give.

            “What’s to tell?” He shrugged. “I’m not that interesting.”

            “And modest, too,” she teased. She looked up at him speculatively. “Darien Chiba, International Man of Mystery.”

            “Don’t be ridiculous.”

            “I bet you’re on the run from a dark past, and you don’t want anyone to find out,” she said thoughtfully, putting one finger to her chin, as Darien’s spine stiffened with tension.

            “Such a serious face,” she teased gently. “What are you thinking?”

            “I’m thinking that some people don’t seem to know when they aren’t wanted. Did you miss the hints, or do you think if you throw yourself at me hard enough I’ll have to give in?”

            She stared at him as if she couldn’t quite believe what she’d heard, and Darien found himself indifferent to the look in her eyes as it sank in. He wondered a little uneasily if perhaps Andrew had been right about him.

            “I’ve got better things to do with my time than waste it on these games,” he muttered to himself, shifting the papers and books in his arms.

            Finally, she said steadily, “Darien Chiba, you are a complete jerk.”

            “So I’ve been told,” he said wryly, and left her standing. He could almost feel the hurt fury of her stare on his back before he heard the sound of her heels clicking away rapidly, and he shrugged a little as the sound faded into the distance.

            None of this was getting him anywhere, and as he frowned down at the books in his arms he wondered just how the Sailor girl fitted in. It couldn’t be coincidence that he’d found himself bailing her out, night after night.

            Was she the key? Was she the common thread that would unravel the mystery that was his life?

_“She knows more than she realises,”_ a soft voice whispered down his spine, and he shivered a little.

           He’d always hunted the monsters in his dreams, protecting his princess. So why were they suddenly coming out of the dreams and into the real world? And why were they all so interested in the Sailor girl? There had to be something to the girl that he hadn’t seen yet. Something that threatened the Negaverse so badly that they were willing to throw everything they had at one small girl.

           He made an involuntary sound of amusement. Or maybe they were just offended by the idea of a kid in a ridiculous sailor suit actually challenging them. _Not that a tuxedo and mask is exactly inconspicuous._

           Almost as if he had conjured it with his thoughts, Darien felt a familiar, sickening pain flash through him. He almost fell, reaching out with one hand blindly, and touched … nothing …

_But I’m awake!_ he thought wildly as the world lurched sideways

 

_…and flung him to his knees, falling through darkness and dreams._

_“What’s going on?” he cried in frustration. “Why does this keep happening to me?”_

_“She can help you find the Crystal,” his princess’ voice whispered, spiralling around him in the black shadows, and he spun around, the heavy black satin of his cape swirling around him, as he tried to find her in the darkness._

_“Sailor Moon is your only hope.”_

_Sailor girl was his only hope? He could have laughed, or cried._

_“Have you seen her in action?” He did laugh then, a short, savage sound. “She knows nothing about the Crystal, or where it is …”_

_“She knows more than she realises,” the princess said gently. “You have to keep her safe until she remembers.”_

_“Remembers what?” Darien cried._

_"Please, my love, be patient. And be good to her," the princess added. There was a faint shimmer of moonlit gold. "This is more difficult for her than you realise, and she has a hard destiny ahead of her. Have faith."_

_"Faith," he whispered. "In a blonde kid who's scared of her own shadow."_

_“Help her,” his princess pleaded, her voice soft and desperate. He felt a hand ghost against his skin before her touch vanished into the whirling darkness._

 

            With a sharp jerk, he felt himself ripped from the dream, stranded in reality in the middle of Fairview Park. And there, sure enough, was the Sailor girl.

            _Help her!_

            Darien clenched his fists, biting back a groan as he watched her trip over her own feet, stumbling under the monster’s attack by accident more than by design. She scrambled out of the way behind a park bench. As the creature rounded on her again, Sailor Moon turned and fled with a terrified shriek, and the noise scraped down his nerves like fingernails on a blackboard.

            And this was his best hope for finding the Crystal and saving his princess?

            Darien sighed, and before he could think about it, sent a rose lancing through the air. It struck, quivering faintly in the breeze, and Sailor Moon shot him a grateful look.

            "Watch out!" he cried. He swept down, almost throwing her out of the way of another attack, and her attention snapped back. She gave a faint squeak and barely tumbled out of reach of the monster's strike.

            He fought beside her, trying to keep the monster from focusing on the girl, and began to notice how she would unconsciously mimic him with surprising grace, spinning under one strike, blocking another.

            "Nice moves," he called, and Sailor Moon faltered, nearly crashing into a wall, flinching with a small screech as the creature's claws sliced the air above her.

            "Ouchie," she whimpered.

            "If you decide to use your tiara any time soon," he shouted at her, whirling a cane out of the dream ether and slamming it into the thing's face. "Don't let me stop you."

            "Oh, yeah."

            Her nose wrinkled in a look of concentration and Sailor Moon spun, the tiara in her hand blurring with moonfire as she flipped it at the monster.

            "Moon ... Tiara ... Magic!" she yelled.

             It arced brightly through the air, and there was a shriek as it struck. As the tiara hit the ground with a ringing sound, the demon disintegrated and blew away, a scattering of dust on the breeze, and in the distance Darien became aware of a fair-haired man in a grey military uniform watching them through narrowed eyes. He met Darien’s gaze with a calculating look, and the two men watched each other warily across the sunlit park as Sailor Moon quickly knelt to dust off the tiara.

            As she stood again, the grey soldier raised one hand to Darien in a mocking little salute and vanished.

            “Jedite,” Darien breathed, and Sailor Moon looked back over her shoulder at him. Where had that name come from?

            "Thank you," she offered uncertainly. She looked like she wanted to say something else, and opened her mouth, closing it again. In her hands, she was picking at the edge of her tiara with a strange nervousness.

            "Who are you?" she asked suddenly. Behind his mask, Darien flinched.

            "For now," he said flatly, "a friend." And before she could ask anything further, he stepped back into the shadows and disappeared into a dream.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

 

Caught up in circles, confusion is nothing new …

 

                                                                                                [Cyndi Lauper & Rob Hyman]

 

            Sailor Moon stared into the sunlit shadows after him, her expression vague and misty.      

            “Tall, dark and romantic,” she sighed, her hands clasped. “What a dream.”

            “For all we know, Tuxedo Mask could very well be a nightmare,” a voice interrupted her thoughts darkly, and Sailor Moon looked down with a quick scowl at the black cat weaving between her ankles. “You don’t even know what he wants, or whose side he’s on.”

            “He told me,” Sailor Moon said sulkily. “For your information, Luna, he told me himself that he’s a friend.”

            “And you believed him,” the cat sighed. “Really, Sailor Moon …”

            Sailor Moon hugged herself, rubbing one gloved hand against her elbow thoughtfully as her frown grew. Of course, when Luna put it like that, it did seem a little silly, but … she trusted him. There was something in those dark blue eyes behind that mask that left her feeling safe. She sighed, and held out her arms as the magic drained away and she turned back into Serena Tsukino.

            “He’s helped me a few times. Honestly, Luna, you are just too suspicious.”

            “And you’re a pushover for any mysterious stranger in a mask. Let’s just hope that the Negaverse hasn’t figured that out,” Luna muttered, rubbing her head against Serena’s leg.

            As Serena turned towards home, she caught a glimpse of an all too familiar figure, and she made a choked sound of horror, tripping over Luna as she turned too suddenly, ending up on hands and knees on the gritty footpath. She scrambled to her feet again, praying that he hadn’t seen her.

            “Serena,” Luna hissed, and she glanced down. “Serena, what on earth are you doing?”

            “Shhh,” Serena whispered back quickly, frowning at her cat. She scooped Luna up and fled around a corner, flattening herself against a wall.

            What was that Darien guy doing here, and why was it that every time she made an idiot of herself he seemed to be right there, watching? If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn he was following her. And right now, she was feeling sick at the thought that he had almost caught her transforming back from Sailor Moon.

            Honestly, what _was_ he doing, wandering around where he had no business? Serena was a little too distracted to notice how tired he looked, or the way he kept rubbing at one shoulder.

            Luna made a mewl of annoyance as Serena hugged her tightly and squeezed her eyes shut.

            “Please don’t let him have seen me,” she breathed. “Just this once.”

            “Serena, this is ridiculous,” the cat complained. “Who exactly are you hiding from?”

            “Just keep quiet, or he’ll see me.”

            “Who’ll see you?” asked a familiar voice, and her eyes flew open. She found herself staring into dark blue eyes with that amused, cynical tilt that always made her just long to slap him. He looked oddly at the cat dangling from Serena’s arms. “I think your cat’s choking.”

            “Oh, no,” she groaned. “Not you again.”

            “And here I was thinking you’d be overjoyed to see me.” He gave her an annoying little smirk. “I didn’t thank you for that doughnut the other day.”

            “Next time I’ll aim better,” she promised darkly.

            “So what are you doing, skulking around the back alleys and talking to yourself? Have you been following me again?”

            “Following you?” Serena could hear her own voice squeak a little in indignation. “Don’t flatter yourself. If anyone’s being stalked here, it’s me. Everywhere I go I wind up running into you.”

            “That’s because you don’t watch where you’re going. I’ve got bruises in places I never knew I had because of you.”

            “Then maybe you should stay out of my way,” she sniffed, her chin tilting as she glared up at him.

            “Around you, it’s not that easy, meatball-head,” he retorted. “Do you go out of your way to crash into people, or am I just special?”

            She choked a little on the response she would have liked to give, and it occurred to her that he always seemed to know exactly what to say, and precisely the condescending, amused tone to say it in, to make her long to hit him. Somehow, he knew which buttons to push every time. She stared up at him in incoherent fury, and he lifted that supercilious eyebrow at her again as he started to walk away.

            “Special?” she shouted after his retreating back. “You wish, buddy!”

            From where she dangled, forgotten, in Serena’s arms, Luna hissed up at her, “If you’ve quite finished flirting, will you put me down?”

            “Flirting?!” Serena almost shrieked. “With that creep?”

            Serena clapped her hands over her mouth, suddenly dropping Luna, as Darien looked back over his shoulder. Oh, lord. Surely he hadn’t heard that.

            “Talking to yourself again?” he called back to her. He shook his head slightly, the corners of his mouth twitching. “You know, blondie, you are one strange girl.”

            “And you’re a creep, Darien Chiba!” she shouted at him, almost stamping her foot. “A first-class jerk!”

            He flipped her a brief wave and disappeared around the corner before she could find something to throw.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

 

Be still my beating heart

Or I’ll be taken for a fool …

[Sting]

 

            “Strange girl,” Darien muttered, staring down at his coffee as the blonde girl’s voice penetrated the electronic noise of the arcade. He’d thought he was safe in his own favourite haven, but there she was again. It was beginning to feel like a conspiracy. “Sounds like someone failed another test.”

            Andrew grinned. “Be nice,” he whispered back. Darien’s eyes followed unconsciously as Andrew moved towards the girl, patting her on the head. _Like a puppy,_ Darien thought nastily. He frowned a little as the girl looked up at Andrew adoringly, giving an impulsive little skip as he said something to her.

            Darien sighed. “Lord, don’t tell me she’s one of Andrew’s little groupies.” And why should it bother him if she had a crush on Andrew? He pinched at the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut as the headache got worse.

            He looked up again, just as she smiled. The sun dawned, and the air turned golden, and Darien had to remember how to breathe as the girl smiled that glorious smile. At Andrew. Who had turned, oblivious, back to the counter.

            "What's with the scary face?" Andrew asked him, waving a hand in front of his face. "Haven't you been getting enough sleep lately?"

            Darien shrugged, wincing as another headache twisted behind his eyes. He had a feeling that it wouldn’t go down well if he told Andrew that he was exhausted and bruised and sore because he had spent the past few nights bailing out a teenage superhero in a sailor suit who didn’t seem to know when she was in way over her head.

            "I'm fine," he said flatly, and Andrew gave him a cynical look.

            "Yeah, right."

            Darien dropped his gaze to stare into the coffee cup in front of him, and Andrew leaned forward across the counter.

            "You need to get out more," he suggested. "Have some fun. Find a nice girl."

            Darien lifted an eyebrow, and didn't bother to look up. Andrew sighed in frustration.

            "One of these days, you're going to have to get over waiting for this perfect dream girl and find someone real."

            "You're obsessed," Darien told him.

            "It's for your own good," Andrew said sternly. "Rita and I just want to see you happy, and wouldn't that make a change." He grinned. "Then we can double-date."

            "Oh, gods." Darien groaned.

            "And here's all these perfectly nice girls throwing themselves at you, and you don't even seem to notice."

            "You can talk," Darien said, his temper finally fraying. "What about that kid you've got following you around there? The one I keep tripping over. Does she know about Rita?"

            Andrew gave him a puzzled look. "Kid? What kid?

            "Gold pigtails and that weird meatball hairstyle, complete klutz, irritating giggle," Darien reminded him ... _and eyes like the summer sky ..._ "She always seems to be hanging around the arcade these days, making nauseating puppy eyes. Which might explain why she gets such awful marks for maths," he added caustically, remembering the paper she’d thrown at him.

            Andrew frowned for a second, then he grinned in recognition.

            "Serena." He frowned again. "You don't seriously think I'd be interested in her, do you?"

            "Well, she's certainly got a crush on you." Darien stared down at the straw between his fingers, idly twirling it until it bent with a small snap. He looked up to find Andrew grinning at him.

            “What’s that look for?” he asked suspiciously.

            Andrew pointed a finger at him. “It couldn’t be the untouchable Darien Chiba is actually a little interested in our Serena himself?”

            Darien raised an eyebrow in genuine amusement. “With meatball-head there? Andrew, you have got to be joking.”

            “Maybe, maybe not,” Andrew said flippantly, the grin getting wider. “But you’ve been staring.”

            Andrew laughed as Darien glared at him.

            “I’m just kidding. She’s a nice kid, but …” Andrew started laughing again “… you should have seen your expression.”

            Darien closed his eyes, seeing in the darkness a misty figure, golden hair like Danae's shower, a hint of roses, and superimposed as he opened his eyes again was a ditz with long blonde pigtails … _Serena_ … as she spun around to wave an enthusiastic goodbye to Andrew. The contrast was almost ludicrous, and Darien couldn’t help the wry smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth.

            “Sorry, Andrew, but the untouchable Darien Chiba remains untouched,” he said deadpan, sliding off the barstool and pushing the coffee cup across the counter to Andrew. “And right now, I’ve got work to do.”

            As the arcade doors slid shut behind him, he stared up into the bright blue sky, squinting a little.

            “And a crystal in a haystack to find,” he muttered under his breath, letting out a sigh of frustration. He turned his head a little to watch Serena hopping along the very edge of the footpath, singing to herself. As she gave a slightly too exuberant kick, his hand shot out without thinking and caught the flying shoe.

            "Nice shot, meatball-head," he said dryly, as she turned, and was startled when she beamed at him, plucking the shoe out of his hand.

            "Nuh-uh. Not even you can ruin my good mood today," she told him blithely, balancing on one foot awkwardly as she tried to put her shoe back on.

            "What's gotten into you?" He lifted one eyebrow. She wobbled a little as she put her foot down, and that bright smile bubbled up again.

            "Somebody likes me," she sighed happily.

            Andrew. Darien pushed his hands deep into his pockets, frowning a little. What on earth had the guy been saying to get her all lit up like that? Didn't she know he had a serious girlfriend?

            "Oh, really. Sounds like a real winner," he muttered sarcastically, and Serena's bright face clouded over.

            “I’ll bet he’s way smarter than you’ll ever be. And unlike some people, he knows how to treat a lady …”

            “Meaning you?” Darien said sceptically.

            “… and he’s sweet, and funny, and so cute …”

            “He can’t be too bright if he’s in love with you. Does he need to get his eyes checked? Or maybe you’ve just got an over-active imagination.”

            "Ohh ..." her voice quivered and her hands bunched into small fists. "That’s just … just … You can say what you like about me, but don't you dare pick on him!"

            "Serena ..." his hand dropped as she flounced away. Let her figure it out for herself.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

 

You see, my problem is this

I’m dreamin’ away

Wishing that heroes

They truly exist …

[Max Martin & Rami]

 

            “Arrogant … insufferable … smug …” Serena was running out of adjectives, and her lip quivered.

            “Not that I care,” she muttered darkly. She leaned her elbows on her windowsill, watching as a cloud slid across the moon. In the room behind her, Luna yawned widely and burrowed further into Serena’s pink doona.

            “You’re not still talking about that boy, are you?” the cat sighed. “If you put half as much effort into being Sailor Moon as you do into thinking up creative names to call him, you’d have defeated the entire force of the Negaverse by now. You really should be putting your energy into preparing to face Jedite tonight.”

            “And that’s another thing,” Serena complained. “What does Jedite really want? He keeps sending monsters to steal energy, but what does he do with it? Use it to heat his bathwater?”

            She shivered a little. Knowing that a villain who could probably burn Tokyo to the ground wanted you dead tended to take the edge off your day, Serena thought glumly.

            “So why has he suddenly decided to host a showdown at the airport? It’s got to be a trap.”

            “Yes, but we can’t take the chance that Jedite won’t carry out his threat and destroy the city. Don’t underestimate the enemy – you have defeated the monsters before, but Jedite is a general of the Negaverse, and is stronger than anything you have faced yet. We know it’s a trap, so we’re prepared, but we have to meet his challenge.”

            “What’s this ‘we’?” Serena muttered.

            Serena could remember a time when her life wasn’t quite so complicated. In fact, it was barely a few weeks since the high point of her day consisted of hanging around with Molly, or getting Andrew to notice her.

            And now she was Sailor Moon, Champion of Love and Justice.

            Serena pulled a face. It was one thing to dream of being a superhero. It was quite another thing when a talking cat turned up in your life, presented you with a magical brooch and told you you had to be that superhero.

            “Champion of Love and Justice,” Serena muttered darkly, rubbing with one finger at the sill. “What good is being Sailor Moon if I can’t even zap that Darien creep. I bet he’s an enemy of love and justice.” She brightened a bit at the thought. “You have to admit they don’t come much more evil than him.”

            A persistent, shrill beep broke her thoughts, and she looked around in annoyance until she realised that the noise was coming from her pocket. Hastily, Serena fumbled out the new gadget and thumbed the pink plastic button. The coin-sized screen resolved into the blurry image of a dark-haired girl who snapped out a query, and Serena winced at the tone, tempted for a moment to just drop the communicator back into her pocket.

            This was something else that had changed. When Luna had told her there were other Sailor Scouts out there, she’d been so excited, and Serena had instantly liked Amy – the new Sailor Mercury – even if she was frighteningly intelligent.

            And then there was Raye. Sailor Mars.

            Serena rolled her eyes at the communicator in her hand as Raye’s image scowled at her. Things had started out so promisingly, and Serena had magnanimously decided not to hold it against the new Scout that Raye had knocked her out with a demon ward the first time they met. Serena had reluctantly gone with Amy to the Cherry Hill Temple, where Raye lived with her grandfather and trained as a priestess, and Raye had mistaken her somehow for a demon in disguise and tried to banish her.

            In spite of Serena’s doubts about Raye’s abilities as a priestess, she had been secretly impressed with her poise and all that beautiful black hair … until they had to work together. The sparks had flown and blood had almost been shed, until Luna had intervened, and it was all the fault of Raye’s nasty temper and mean turn of phrase. She hadn’t realised there were so many ways to call someone names until Raye had got stuck into her for klutzing up.

            Serena thought of herself as pretty easy-going. There weren’t many people she didn’t like, but if Luna thought that she was going to put up with that … that domineering pyro witch … she had another think coming.

            “What now?” Serena complained as Raye’s voice crackled with irritated static.

            “Just get over here,” Raye snapped.

            “Here where?”

            “Honestly, Serena. Haven’t you been listening to anything I’ve said?” Serena muttered something under her breath. “Just get over to the airport, would you. You’re late.”

            Raye cut herself off in a shower of static, and Serena stuck out her tongue at the blank screen. With another sigh, she scrambled to her feet.

            “Serena? Is that you?”

            Serena froze at the sound of her mother’s voice, one leg over the window sill.

            “Aren’t you in bed yet?”

            “Yes, Mum,” Serena called out quickly. “Nearly asleep.”

            Footsteps paused outside her door and Serena’s heart jumped. How on earth would she explain that she was climbing out her window this late at night still in her school uniform?

            “Just don’t stay up reading comics all night,” her mother said with a sigh, and Serena stayed frozen until she heard the footsteps move away again. She let out a breath, hitting her forehead on the window frame as she swung her other leg over, feeling around with one foot for the tree branch underneath.

            Luna brushed past her arm, her fur prickling as she leaped lightly into the tree.

            “That was a very close call,” the cat whispered primly, and Serena wrinkled her nose at her. “If you’d gone to bed when I told you to, your mother wouldn’t have been so suspicious.”

            “And then I would have fallen asleep and been really late.”

            “Instead of daydreaming over Tuxedo Mask, no doubt, and being just a little late.”

            “Of course.” Serena missed the branch with her toes, and caught at the window frame, trying to slow her heartrate down to normal again.

            “Do try not to fall,” Luna sighed, picking her way daintily along another branch. “You’d find it rather hard to fight Jedite with a sprained ankle.”

            “A little sympathy here,” Serena grumbled, frowning with concentration as she carefully lowered herself down a little further. “I wanted to go out the front door, nice and safe, but oh no …”

            “And risk getting caught by your parents? What a good idea.”

            Serena dropped to the ground, praying that no one had heard anything, and took to her heels as soon as the gate had closed with a quiet click behind her. She flew down familiar sidestreets, flinching every time a car’s headlights flashed over her. _I can just imagine Dad’s reaction when his only daughter gets hauled in by the police for wandering the streets at this time of night,_ she thought dismally, her breath coming in short gasps now. _I thought superheroes were supposed to be able to fly and stuff. I must be the only one who has to run to catch the train to battle evil._

            She skidded through the barricades at Azabu-Juban station, doubling over to catch her breath as she came to a halt beside Amy and Raye. Raye gave her a look loaded with contempt.

            “You’re late,” she stated.

            “Well, I was thinking,” Serena pouted. “I got distracted.”

            “That’d be a first.” Raye looked at her watch, scowling. “And now we’ve missed the last train. I don’t suppose you’ve brought enough money for a taxi?”

            As Serena opened her mouth to respond, the empty train beside the platform flickered to life, its dark, blank windows lighting up as the doors slid open with an unnerving hiss. The three girls stared at the open doors, and Luna leaned forward to sniff them warily.

            “This must be a trap.”

            “I told you that,” Serena muttered under her breath, and reached out to grab Raye’s sleeve as the priestess moved forward. “What on earth are you doing?”

            The girl gave her an impatient look, her eyebrow raised. “Jedite’s sent us private transport. Let’s take it.”

            She stepped through the doors, dragging Serena with her, and Amy followed cautiously, reaching down to scoop Luna up into her arms. All three girls flinched as the doors slammed shut behind them. The train rushed out of the station, picking up speed as it fled into the darkness.

            Outside the windows, the shadows rushed past, and the tiny well of light within the carriage only made the night outside seem darker. Serena fidgeted nervously, bouncing up to stare out the window every few minutes until Raye snapped at her.

            “I can’t help it,” Serena complained. “I’ve got this awful feeling in my stomach, and it won’t go away. I don’t want to fight Jedite. I’m too young and pretty to die.”

            “Yeah, right,” Raye snorted, her arms folded tightly across her chest. “You’re such a wimp, Serena. If it weren’t for Tuxedo Mask, you’d be Negaverse fodder already. And one day he’s going to get sick of all that whining and leave you to your fate.”

            “No way! Tuxedo Mask adores me.”

            “Feels sorry for you, you mean.”

            Serena’s lip wobbled dangerously. “You’re just jealous,” she sniffed. “Just because I’ve got my very own guardian angel ...”

            “So what about Andrew? Have you given up on him, then?” Raye asked. “And that guy we ran into at the mall.”

            “And the young man at the ice-cream parlour,” Amy added, hugging Luna, and Serena gave a wail.

            “Not you too, Amy!” She pouted. “Everyone’s against me.”

            “You’re just fickle.”

            “I,” Serena announced, “am unalterably devoted to Tuxedo Mask.” She tilted her chin, daring them to laugh. How could even Andrew compare to a tall, dark and mysterious hero who always managed to step in just when she needed him most?

            “Then you won’t mind if I grab that Darien Chiba we met at Dreamland,” Raye said sweetly. “Seeing you’re so devoted to Tuxie, that means you’re not interested in Darien, right?”

            “In that creep?!” Serena could feel her voice rising several octaves. “You must be joking. Even you couldn’t be so desperate.”

            “Oh, I don’t know,” Raye said thoughtfully. She looked sideways at Serena. “I thought he was gorgeous. A real live Tuxedo Mask type.”

            “Not in a million years.”

            Serena stumbled and fell as the train shrieked to a halt, catching herself on a seat as the doors slid open with a quiet hiss. As they ran up the stairs and through the airport terminals, Serena slowly realised what was wrong. It was far too quiet.

            The huge spaces echoed emptily, and there was no one at the baggage check counters, or the security gates. As they rounded a corner into the international terminal, Raye skidded to a stop and Serena almost crashed into her.

            “Wow,” she whispered, looking over Raye’s shoulder. “There sure are a lot of policemen here.”

            Dark navy blue shapes stood silently around the terminal, immobile in the harsh fluorescent light. Serena couldn’t see any passengers or staff anywhere, and the sight of those unmoving police were giving her the chills.

            “I guess nothing’s happened yet,” Raye whispered back uneasily.

            Behind Serena, Amy looked around nervously.

            “Something’s weird about this …”

            “Look out!”

            Serena ducked with a small scream as Raye’s fist flew over her head, and looked up again just in time to see a navy figure drop to the floor with a breathless grunt. Raye straightened. She dusted her hands together, a strange, half-fierce, half-scared look on her face.

            “What’s going on?” Serena whimpered. Behind them, more bodies were coming towards them with odd, jerky movements.

            “Stop yelling and run!” Raye screamed at her, reaching out one hand to drag Serena to her feet as she took to her heels. Amy gave a little gasp and followed, her breathing coming hard, and Luna brought up the rear.

            Serena shot a frightened look over her shoulder.

            “What are they doing?” she wailed. “They’re policemen … aren’t they supposed to be on our side?”

            Then Raye hit an emergency door open with a resounding thump. They tumbled down a narrow ladder of steps onto the wide, dark runway with the eerily silent police in pursuit.

            Behind her, Serena felt Amy stop running.

            “Amy!”

            “We’re being herded like sheep,” the short-haired girl panted. “This is nuts!”

            And Amy’s hand shot into the air as she shouted out the transformation words. There was a flash of blue, and a whirlwind of rainbows and ice, and Sailor Mercury turned to face the figures lurching towards them. In front of Serena, Raye stopped running and turned fiercely, throwing up her arm as she transformed in a storm of fire.

            Serena stood there, frozen and unthinking, until Sailor Mars rounded on her.

            “Get a move on!”

            “Oh, yeah.” Serena shook herself out of her funk.

            “Moon …”

            As she flung out a hand, she could feel the first painful and wonderful prickle of moonlight and magic on her skin.

            “… Prism …”

            She tipped her head back, letting it pour over her, opening her arms to the moonfire as it flooded through her in a savage rush, spinning her around.

            “Power!”

            Sailor Moon lowered her arms and faced the enemy.

            “They aren’t even human!” Mercury said excitedly, her fingers flying over the small keypad in her hand. “They’re … constructed somehow. Wow, that’s powerful magic,” the girl breathed in awe, still staring intently at the screen.

            “I’ll take care of them,” Mars interrupted confidently. She was already drawing up her hands and beginning to sketch lines of fire in the air.

            The golems exploded in an impressive ball of fire as Mars gestured. Tiny licks of flame scattered on the breeze, carrying a heavy drift of ash, and then there was nothing left but a smear of soot on the tarmac. Mars stared at the patch for a moment, her dark hair drifting around her in the wind, and lifted her chin to glare into the black expanse of the runway.

            As Serena and Mercury stood there, blinking and trying to peer into the shadows, Mars strode out of the thin band of light spilling from the terminal windows into the darkness beyond.

            “Well, we’re here,” Mars snarled.

            The darkness exploded.

            Serena flung up an arm, blinded by the painful light. Through the tears in her eyes, she could barely make out a figure silhouetted against the floodlights.

            “Here you are,” Jedite agreed. “Right where I want you.”

            Serena was suddenly aware of just how exposed they were.

            “There’s no place to hide,” she breathed, backing up a step. In the distance she became aware of a low rumble like thunder.

            Jedite laughed, and the air around him snapped with white-hot lightning and the smell of burning ozone. The rumble grew louder and became a roar as Jedite lifted a hand with a casual gesture. Beside her, Mercury gasped, and Serena turned.

            “Jets?” Mercury cried in disbelief. “He’s using _airplane jets_ as an offensive weapon? What kind of maniac _is_ he?”

            “The kind that’s going to kill us!” Serena screamed. “What do we do?”

            “Run for it!” Luna shouted.

            As Serena ran, sensing the others beside her in her headlong flight, she risked a glance over her shoulder. The plane was gaining speed, and to her right she caught a glimpse of another jet looming out of the darkness, rolling into the bright spotlights. Somewhere above them, Jedite laughed.

            “Time for some fire power!” Mars called. Her raven hair whipped around her as she raised her hands again, starting to mutter under her breath.

            “Wait!”

            Mars froze in confusion as Luna belted towards her.

            “Don’t do it! If you blow up one of those jets, it will take your allowance for the next ten thousand years to pay it off.”

            Serena stared at the cat in disbelief. They were supposed to be the superheroes here, saving the city and all that; she was sure Superman had never had to fork over his pocket money to cover damages. If they couldn’t destroy the plane with one of Mars’ little pyrotechnic displays, what exactly were they supposed to do?

            At the end of the runway the plane shuddered to life again and revolved slowly to face them, metal screaming as it picked up speed. For one long moment, Serena was frozen in its path as it roared towards her, then Mercury shouted her name and she gave a frightened squeak. Serena took to her heels, hearing the thunder of the plane growing closer and closer. She swerved violently, but the plane followed, and then out of the darkness another loomed, blind red lights winking at her on its underbelly.

            Ahead of her, the runway dropped away into dark water, and she could hear the sound of waves washing against the embankment where the tarmac jutted out over the ocean. If she kept going, she was going to wind up drowning. If she stopped, she’d be crushed.

            She heard Luna’s voice from a distance cry, “Sailor Moon!”

            Serena panicked as the turbine thunder filled the night, and shrieked.

            “Tuxedo Mask!!”


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

 

All colours bleed to red

Asleep on the ocean’s bed

Drifting in empty seas

For all my days remaining

[Sting]

 

            _Not again,_ Darien thought despairingly as he felt himself falling through his dreams. Shadows unfolded around him in a whirlwind of black and crimson satin, the heavy weight settling across his shoulders, and he felt the mask materialise as he reached out automatically for the ivory handled cane that fell into his hands. He hefted it once, and vanished it into the dream ether, bracing himself as he was flung ruthlessly into reality.

            There had been a moment, back when this charade with Sailor Moon had begun, that he had felt a tiny flicker of hope. Perhaps he was getting closer. Perhaps he might actually find some answers. But the game went on and on, and the demons kept coming, and time after time after time he yanked Sailor Moon out of the messes she got herself into. Tuxedo Mask had stepped out of the dreams, but nothing had changed.

            For a brief moment, he knelt on the ground, his eyes closed as he tried to regain his equilibrium. Under his hand, the ground was hard gravel with the smell of warm tarmac, and he drew a slow breath. Was this his life? Chasing dreams and babysitting teenage superheroes? Darien fought back a sense of despair that threatened to swamp him, digging his fingers into the sharp gravel.

            _Ten years!_ His thoughts were a silent cry. _I’ve spent ten years of my life, waiting for answers, waiting for a dream to come true. How much longer?_ But there was no answer.

            _It would have been easier if I’d died, too._

            His head lifted swiftly as Sailor Moon shrieked his name. He was on his feet before he could think, with a rose in his hand. The ground under his feet shook with thunder as a massive plane roared in the darkness, the sound reverberating and growing louder as the jet bore down with frightening speed. At the end of the runway he could see Sailor Moon reach the steep drop down into the black seawater below, and she spun around, her hair a golden maelstrom around her, to face the screaming jet.

            Darien sent the rose lancing after it. In the darkness beyond the spotlight, the plane came to a shuddering halt a little too close for comfort, and the metallic whine faded. He flicked a quick glance across the tarmac, and Darien sighed with exasperation and something that might have been relief.

           Sailor Moon was scared and shaken, but unhurt.

            That established, his attention shifted back to the figure silhouetted behind the huge floodlights. His eyes narrowed grimly as he watched the man in the grey uniform who was staring back at him with a strange, twisted expression. It would be too easy to underestimate this one.

            Jedite showed little subtlety, but Darien reminded himself that he wasn’t like the monsters they’d fought so far. Jedite was dangerous.

            “What a tough guy you are,” Darien said dryly. “You’re finally stopped hiding behind your lackeys and decided to fight three little girls all on your own.”

            “And you’re next,” Jedite snarled, launching himself into the air, straight at Darien. The attack lifted them out over the edge of the runway, hanging for just a moment over the black water. Darien reached for his cane, but too late. Jedite ducked under Darien’s defense before he even knew what was happening. Caught off-guard, Darien felt Jedite’s hands around his throat as they fell backwards over the edge of the tarmac into the icy seawater below.

            Darien felt the cold water close over him, felt the darkness press against him and drag him down, and his hand lifted slowly as fingers closed around him, squeezing tighter. The air bubbled lazily from his mouth.

            The hands shoved at his throat, spinning him casually away into the cold black depths.

            Darien sank like a stone.

            As he fell with an infinite slowness, heavy and cold, he tried to raise an arm. He tried to move against the weight, and it was all too hard. There was an unbearable longing to just let go and sink without a trace. He felt the water pulling him down, and with a noiseless sigh he sank.

_"No!”_

            Darien drifted indifferently, and the bitter water bubbled through his lungs as he drew a slow, painless breath.

_“I won’t let you do this!”_

            In the wet darkness he thought he smelt a familiar acrid reek of burning metal, and a faint memory teased at him. Then there was that cry again, sharp through the ringing in his ears and refusing to leave him in peace. Phantom hands caught at him, fighting the weight of the water, and he struggled feebly against the grip.

 _Why?_ Even the dull effort of thinking was too hard. _What is there to hold on for?_

 _“I need you,”_ the silent voice whispered down his nerves, sharp with fear and a rising desperation. _“She needs you. Jedite is just the beginning. Even if she defeats him, if he fails, another will be sent, and another …”_

            Through the inky waves, Darien looked up to the refracted blur of gold far above. He had the feeling that there was something important he should remember. _Sailor Moon._ Somewhere up there Sailor Moon was fighting for her life against Jedite, and his heart faltered.

 _“She can’t do it alone,”_ his princess begged, and Darien drew a sharp, ragged breath, coughing up the dark salt water. _“I can’t do this alone…”_

            Darien fought. With infinite slowness, he fought to lift a limb, to move, to resist the darkness that wanted to pull him down. He clawed his way through the heavy blackness to where the lights flickered on the waves and dragged himself out of the water, his fingers clinging to the rocks that reached up to the tarmac. For a moment, he hung there, choking and spitting up the water that swilled and roiled in his lungs.

            Slowly he looked up. Everything was silent, and he crawled up the rocks. The planes were still, Jedite was gone, and all alone on the vast open runway were three girls.

            They had won, and Darien gave a dry laugh, wincing and coughing as it pulled at his ribs. _She really did it,_ he thought with a strange sense of pride.

            Somehow, as Darien watched Sailor Moon bury her face in her hands, he didn’t think they were as happy as they ought to be over the victory.

            Sailor Moon’s cat was rubbing her face against the girl’s ankle.

            “Sailor Moon.” The words drifted on the night wind. “I know it’s hard, but you’ll have to learn to fight without him.”

            They were talking about him?

            “Never!” Sailor Moon wailed.

            Darien stood slowly, and straightened, a pained smile twisting at his mouth.

            “It’s nice to know you care,” he said, and Sailor Moon whipped around, her eyes going wide with shock and a joy that insensibly warmed him.

 _Get a grip, Chiba,_ he told himself silently. _She only cares because she thinks you’re some mysterious, romantic hero in a mask._

            She started to run towards him, and he stepped back involuntarily, vanishing before she could reach him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

 

It hasn’t been the best of days

I’d like to fly away …

                                                [Sting]

 

            As Sailor Moon ran towards him, Darien took two steps backwards and felt the dream tug him down into the spiral of shadows.

 

            _The cape billowed and dissolved in a storm of roses as he fell through the darkness. The scent filled his head and took his breath away, and her fingers touched his face._

_“Jedite is gone,” he said, and felt her fingers tremble against his cheek._

_“Jedite was only the first. There is too much at stake now, and the Negaverse will send stronger warriors; this isn’t over yet.”_

_“What is it that they want so badly?”_

_“Power,” she said softly. “Energy.”_

_There was a flurry of rosepetals, brushing at his face like moths._

_“The Negaverse is the negative image of this universe. The dark power at the heart of the Negaverse has always wanted what It can’t have, and It craves the life and passion of this world, and the vast energy It senses in that life.” She gave a tiny sigh. “And the Imperium Silver Crystal is life and energy incarnate. If they find it first, there will be untold harm done when negativity and nightmares meet light and life. The Negaverse doesn’t understand that they can never wield the Crystal, but if they did, it would not matter. They would rather destroy the Crystal, this world, the whole galaxy, than have it wielded against them.”_

_“So this is what Sailor Moon wants,” he said. “And I …”_

_“In the light of the Crystal, I will be free again,” his princess whispered._

_In the moonless illusion, his eyes closed behind the mask. He was so tired of this endless searching, waiting for dreams that never came true._

_“How much longer?”_

_He thought she had gone. He couldn’t feel her warmth beside him, or her spiderweb soft touch on his skin._

_Then her voice was nothing more than a distant sigh. “Soon …”_

_Darien was being sucked down, and everything turned around him in a heavy tidal whirl of roses. He reached out blindly, and sank further and faster._

_“The Crystal must appear soon, for time is running out.”_

_“Then tell me what to do!”_

_“I can’t!” her fading voice wailed, and the sound was swallowed by the thick darkness. “If you knew … If you only knew how long I have waited. I have waited a thousand years for you, and, oh, Love, I couldn’t bear to lose you again.”_

_The bitter anger drained away, leaving him exhausted. His hand stretched after her…_

 

            … and the air under his fingers turned to cold glass. Darien opened his eyes, and leaned heavily against his living-room window, staring blindly out at the glittering city of lights under a horizon lit from one end to the other in a neon glow.

            It was going to be a long, rough road. He almost wished he could abandon Sailor Moon to her fate, but every time he felt her unspoken cry for help again he dissolved back into the dreams without a struggle. The pattern was beginning to emerge; he could feel the surge of panic, and the searing pain behind his eyes was often the only warning he got before her terror overwhelmed him and called out Tuxedo Mask.

            And Tuxedo Mask always came. He couldn’t remember where he’d first heard the name they’d given him. _The mysterious masked hero. Tuxedo Mask … Ye gods!_ But it had stuck.

            _Tuxedo Mask_. As the dark cape swirled and settled around him, and the white mask appeared, he wondered why that was how his dreams chose to clothe him. _And deadly roses_ , he reminded himself. _Just one more mystery in my life_. He felt his heartbeat race, echoing the feeling of Sailor Moon’s terror that tugged at him. Out of the dreams, he fell to his knees on a tennis court in the bright, hot sunshine, one hand flat on the dull red gravel to steady himself. He looked up quickly and found her.

            “Tuxedo Mask!”

            Sailor Moon squeaked, and he sighed as she flipped out of the way, scrambling backward across the tennis court. Standing over her, a demon drew back its arm for another shot, an enormous tennis racket raised, and Darien reached out one hand, feeling the familiar weight of his cane settle against his palm. It looked fragile and too ornate, but like the roses, it was deadly in the right hands – his hands. He spun it swiftly and brought it up with a sharp crack as it smacked into a green arm.

            That got the thing’s attention. He ducked as a tennis racket whistled over his head and slammed into a fence pole, hard enough to break it with a resounding boom. The pole toppled and fell with a slow creak, and Darien dove out of the way as the wire fence came down. Behind him the monster was crouching in a short tennis skirt, the ropey muscles on its grass-green arms standing out as it brought its hands together and another huge tennis racket appeared.

 _Tennis rackets?_ He lifted an eyebrow. _Now, there’s an offensive weapon I never would have thought of._

            He swept the cane in a lethal arc, and rolled, coming up between the thing and Sailor Moon as it raised the racket, and brought it down with the snap of thunder. The air sizzled with lightning flung straight at them.

            Sailor Moon gasped as Darien gathered her up in one swift motion, jerking her off her feet. He could feel her face pressed against his chest, and then he let her go abruptly as his feet touched ground again.

            Where they had stood, the gravel was scorched and smoking.

            Sailor Moon sighed. “Tuxedo Mask …”

            “Focus!” he shouted, hauling her out of the way of another attack. “We’ve got a few problems here. You can thank me later.”

            He could have sworn he saw her pout. Behind him he could hear the sounds of her two friends finally turning up, and as he circled the monster, keeping its attention, they did their little speeches about love and justice. Behind his mask, Darien rolled his eyes. _Do they really have to do that every time? Why don’t they cut to the chase?_

            While her friends pinned the thing with their little party tricks, Sailor Moon finally pulled her golden tiara free and spun it at the creature. She really was getting quite good with that.

            The demon dissolved in a shower of ash, and all that was left were three Sailor Scouts and a young girl in a tennis uniform slumped against a corner of the tennis net, passed out and drained. Darien hadn’t noticed her before.

            Then suddenly he was distracted by a hint of movement. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a man in an immaculate business suit at the edge of the court, his fingers gripping the high wire fence rather tightly. The man’s face darkened dangerously, his long auburn hair falling forward to hide his expression as he pushed away from the fence. Darien watched him go.

            “I know you,” he breathed.

            “Hunh?” Sailor Moon said, and his attention snapped back again.

            “Well done,” he said quickly. Sailor Moon’s curious look melted. “You’re getting better at this. Who knows? Sooner or later, you won’t even need me anymore.”

            “I’ll always need you,” she told him, looking up at him with her heart in her eyes, until Sailor Mars snorted.

            “She’ll always need someone to bail her out,” Sailor Mars was muttering under her breath.

            Sailor Moon spun around, and Darien saw the happiness fade in her blue eyes. Mars and Mercury didn’t even seem to notice the way her lip trembled suddenly. Just like they never noticed how hard Sailor Moon was really trying, he thought savagely, under all the melodrama and wailing.

            Didn't they realise how they were chipping away Sailor Moon's fragile confidence? The girl would have nothing left soon if they weren't careful.

            He turned on his heel as Sailor Moon’s voice rose behind him, shaking with intensity, and Mars threw back a heated description of all her faults. Mercury’s soft voice broke in, a gentle counterpoint to the escalating argument, as Darien strode out of the world and into the quiet darkness of dreams.

            The temptation to knock their heads together was almost irresistible.

            Every time, he watched the look on her face while Mars ripped into her, always the same thing – Sailor Moon was too scared, too slow, too clumsy – while Mercury said nothing. Was he the only one who could see how much Sailor Moon hated it, every time she faced up to another monster?

            And the monsters were getting worse. As the summer nights changed, and the warm smell of late roses melted into the first cool stirrings of autumn, the creatures were getting nasty. And cunning. The warrior who had replaced Jedite had a subtle mind, and he created monsters from warped life energy that could turn the Scouts’ own powers against them. If the Scouts couldn’t hold it together, they were going to get hurt.

 _You mean, Sailor Moon’s going to get hurt,_ a small voice said at the back of his mind. _That’s what you’re really worried about, isn’t it?_

            “Without her,” he argued under his breath, “I have no hope of finding the Crystal.”

            And on top of all this, exams were getting closer.

            All this made for restless nights and frantic days. On his way home from lectures a few days later, yet another headache was lurking behind his eyes, and Darien shifted the bag of books on his shoulder, reaching up to rub at the bridge of his nose. The door of the Crown Arcade slid open in front of him, and he winced as a penetrating and distinctive voice wafted over him.

            _Not her. Not now_ , he complained silently. _I don’t need this_.

            “Do you think I’m pretty enough?” were the first words he heard over the shrieks and whistles of the video games.

            Darien grimaced, watching her lean her elbows on the counter, long blonde pigtails spilling over the back of the stool she was perched on, as she stared worshipfully up at Andrew. Andrew’s lips moved, and suddenly Serena was beaming up at the sandy-haired young man like he was God’s gift to the world.

            Before Darien could make up his mind to turn tail and run, Andrew caught sight of him and waved at him, and Darien was trapped. He sighed, and the sigh turned into a snort as Serena tilted her head to glare up at him. He flicked one pigtail.

            "You're still here," he said dryly. "Don't you have a home to go to?"

            Serena sniffed, and turned pointedly back to Andrew.

            "So you really think I’ve got what it takes to be a model?" she asked hopefully. “This contest could be the start of my modelling career, and then I'll be famous, and rich, and travel all over the world ..."

            _Serena, a model?_ As Andrew struggled for something diplomatic to say, Darien opened his mouth.

            "Yeah, if you don't make a complete fool of yourself."

            He finally had her full, and furious, attention.

            "After all," he kept going, "you can't even walk across the street without tripping, and taking down at least three innocent bystanders. What makes you think you'd make it on the catwalk?"

            "And who asked you?" There were distinct storm warnings in those blue eyes, and they glared at each other, oblivious to anything else around them. "What would you know about it?"

            As he stared down at her small, scowling face, Darien had the childish impulse to knock the wind out of her sails. Miss Pigtails didn't know everything there was to know about him. He opened his mouth, and spoke before he could stop himself.

            "I used to do a bit of modelling," he said casually, his gaze shifting to stare at the wall as Serena's eyes widened in disbelief. He avoided Andrew’s open-mouthed stare of shock, mentally kicking himself, but there was no going back now.

            "Get real," she scoffed.

            "No, seriously. I picked up a bit of spare cash modelling about a year or two ago. And it's not all glamour. You have to get up early, eat properly, exercise all the time ..." He grinned down at the furious girl. "That's hardly your style, is it?"

            His grin got wider as Serena's small hands balled into fists, her blue eyes blazing with a dangerous fire. For a minute, he thought she was going to hit him.

            "And anyway," he continued, "unless things have really changed lately, models are usually meant to be graceful and statuesque. You don’t stand a chance, meatball-head."

            The storm clouds in her eyes spilled over into rain as her bottom lip quivered. "Oh, yeah?" Serena gave a defiant sniff. "Well, don't you worry about me, buddy. I'll be just fine."

            She stormed out without so much as a backward glance, her spine stiff with righteous indignation.

            "Darien?"

            Darien, startled out of his abstraction by the tone of Andrew's voice, swivelled around. His friend was actually glaring at him.

            "What on earth did you say that for?" Andrew asked disapprovingly. Darien didn't say anything.

            "How come you're always so harsh on Serena?"

            Darien shrugged uncomfortably. He ran a hand through his hair. "I honestly don't know," he said uneasily. "Look, I just ... She just brings out the worst in me. I can't help teasing her ..."

            "Well, go a little easier on her, okay? I know Serena's a bit of a scatterbrain, but she's just a kid, and the way you’re pushing her she’s going to get hurt."

            Darien stared blankly into the coffee cup Andrew put in front of him, while Andrew mopped up around him. What on earth had gotten into him?

            “Do you want me to heat up that coffee you’ve been staring at for the past ten minutes?” Andrew asked, and Darien looked up with a start.

            “What?”

            “That coffee you’re hugging. It’s probably stone-cold by now.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

 

And I guess it’s all true what your girlfriends say

That you don’t ever want to see me again

                                                                                [Sting]

 

            “You don’t think she was serious about being a model, do you?” Darien asked.

            Andrew shrugged. “With Serena, who knows. She gets some weird ideas sometimes, but she can be pretty determined when she wants to be. Although some of her ideas are just cracked.” He grinned. “A couple of years ago, when she was twelve, she decided she was going to get Sailor V’s autograph.”

            Darien was startled into a laugh.

            “Did anyone bother to tell her Sailor V is just a movie character?”

            “Yeah, but she did it,” Andrew said. “A signed photograph, no less.”

            “You’re kidding.”

            “No joke. Sailor V may just be an actress, but she’s real enough to sign a photo. I can’t tell you how she did it, but let’s just say that I’ve got a lot of sympathy for her parents.”

            On the other side of Azabu-Juban the following morning, the glances Serena’s parents were exchanging across the breakfast table suggested that they would have agreed with Andrew’s sentiment. Serena flew through the dining room, snatching up a piece of toast on her way, and caught her father in a strangling hug with one arm as she ran past with her schoolbag.

            “Serena! Get back here, young lady!”

            Serena screeched to a halt at the sound of her mother’s voice, one hand on the door.

            “Wha-aat?” she complained, swinging her schoolbag a little. “I’m going to be late for school.”

            “You’re going to fail school if you’re not careful,” her mother said grimly. “I saw your last English test, and I want you straight home after school for some serious study. No more playing around at the mall until your grades improve.”

            “But, Mum …”

            “Straight home.”

            “But I promised Amy I’d study with her today,” Serena said, blue eyes wide and innocent as she gave a hopeful little smile. “You know how smart she is …”

            Before her mother could say anything further, Serena dropped a fast kiss on her mother’s cheek and fled.

            “Serena …” The door closed on the sound of her mother’s voice, and Serena sprinted down the path to school. If she was really lucky, she might be able to talk Amy into a study session at the arcade after school, and then she wouldn’t be fibbing, strictly speaking. _Of course, I’d need one little game to get in the right frame of mind for serious work._

            By the time the final bell went and the classroom cleared, she was standing next to Amy’s desk, shifting impatiently from one foot to the other as Amy slowly closed her books and tucked them into her schoolbag.

            “Come on, come on,” Serena complained, hugging her bag to her chest. “The arcade’s going to be closed before we get there.”

            “I thought we were going to study,” Amy said, hitching her glasses a little higher. She ruffled a hand through her short blue-black hair and bent to pick up her bag. “Wasn’t that the idea?”

            “Oh … yeah. Of course.” Serena gave her friend a bright, ingenuous smile. “But we can play Sailor V too. That’s almost studying. Sailor Moon needs to have good hand-eye coordination.”

            Amy sighed, the corners of her mouth twitching. “I don’t think that was quite what Luna meant.”

            “But she would have, if she’d thought of it.” Serena grabbed Amy’s hand and dragged her out of the school gates at a run. “Come on, if we’re late, Raye’s going to have a fit.”

            When they reached the Academy where Raye went to school, Raye was already standing beside the high iron gates, tapping her foot a little impatiently, as girls in the grey and maroon uniform of the Academy drifted past.

            “About time,” Raye said tartly, raven hair swinging smoothly as she turned on her heel. The priestess flicked an abbreviated smile at Amy before marching past Serena with a glare. “Some people,” she said darkly, “don’t seem to care about keeping people waiting. Or about anything else, for that matter.”

            “And some people,” Serena muttered, “need to lighten up.”

            Raye was striding down the path, not bothering to look at the windows they passed as they turned into the shopping district. Behind her, a buffer between them, Amy kept throwing glances over her shoulder at Serena, who was trailing them both. Serena pretended she didn’t see the little gestures Amy was making, trying to get her to talk to Raye.

            As they passed the arcade windows, Serena’s footsteps slowed. When Amy turned to see what was holding her up, she gave the girl genius a hopeful smile.

            “Just one game wouldn’t hurt,” she said wistfully.

            “Just one,” Amy repeated a little sceptically, and ahead of them, Raye snorted, folding her arms across her chest. The priestess glared at the arcade window, and then her expression changed with an odd little smile.

            “Why not?” Raye said casually, and Serena gave her a suspicious look. It wasn’t like Raye to give in so fast. “Just this once.”

            As the arcade doors slid open, Serena suddenly realised why Raye had agreed to come. The girls behind her almost crashed into her as she came to an abrupt halt.

            “Serena, what are you doing?” Raye gave her a little push, and Serena stumbled, catching at Amy’s shoulder before she could trip and make an idiot of herself. Again.

            “I can’t go in there,” she said. “I’ve changed my mind - let’s go somewhere else.”

            “Why?” Amy asked curiously. “You were the one who wanted to come here.”

            She edged Serena gently through the doorway. Darien hadn’t seen her yet, focused on the game in front of him, but it was only a matter of time before he turned around.

            “I thought this was your favourite place,” Raye added innocently.

            “Yes, but not when _he’s_ there.”

            “Who?”

            “Who do you think?” Serena hissed at Raye. “Don’t look … could you be any more obvious?”

            Serena found her escape cut off as Amy leaned over her shoulder, brushing her short blue-black hair out of her eyes as she peered around the arcade.

            “Who are you talking about?” Amy asked.

            “This cute guy we met at Dreamland Park.” Raye lifted a hand to point, and Serena smacked it down, feeling her face burning. “Serena’s good friends with him,” she added snidely.

            “Darien Chiba is the most heartless creep you will ever meet,” Serena said, scowling. “The jerk told me I wasn’t pretty enough to be a model. And he picks on my hairstyle all the time, and my grades …”

            “Oh, I don’t know.” Raye looked sideways at Serena. “I think he’s a sweetheart. I’d snatch him up in a minute.”

            “If you’re really that desperate …”

            “He seems quite nice,” Amy broke in. “How old is he?”

            “Just because he called you meatball-head, that doesn’t make him any less cute. It just means he’s discerning,” Raye continued.

            “Discerning?!” Serena could feel her voice rise an octave. She ignored Amy’s hand on her arm and glared at Raye as the girl flicked long dark hair back over her shoulder. “And like he’d even look twice at you, Raye.”

            “You’ll see,” Raye said smugly.

            Before Serena could guess what she was going to do, Raye was marching over to the machine where Darien sat. Through the roaring in her ears, she could hear Raye say his name, mention the Park, and he finally looked up. He said something, and turned to glance at her past Raye as he swung to his feet.

            She cringed as he passed her and she felt his hand pat the top of her head.

            “Studying hard, meatball-head?” he said wickedly.

            As she searched desperately for something stinging and clever to say, the doors closed behind him and he was gone. Serena stamped her foot in frustration.

            “… irritating … heartless … annoying, infuriating …”

            “I like him,” Raye told her, grinning smugly, and Serena rounded on her.

            “Just because you have no taste …”

            “Just because he’s got the sense to recognise what a meatball-head you are …”

            “Stop it!” Amy almost shouted, and they stopped in shock. There was a brief pause in the electronic noise, and at the counter Andrew had turned to stare, as Serena directed one last black look at Raye and turned on her heel to find her favourite Sailor V game.

            Amy’s sigh drifted over the sound of the machines, her soft voice holding an uncharacteristic hint of exasperation as she told Andrew that, yes, they were always like this, and Serena tilted her chin. She dropped onto the seat in front of the game with a thump as Raye laughed.

_Well, fine. See if I care._

            She was still muttering under her breath as the machine swallowed her last coin and Sailor V’s little figure spun around and died.

            “Serena!” Raye called again, her voice impatient. “We’re going. Are you coming or not?” Childishly, Serena ignored her, scowling at the screen.

            She jumped as a hand reached over her shoulder and dropped a game token into her lap.

            “This one’s on me,” Andrew told her, ruffling her hair in sympathy. “You look like you need it.”

            “I don’t know how you could be friends with that creep.”

            “Who, Darien?” Andrew sighed. “It isn’t easy, that’s for sure, but … well, I just can’t stand the thought of anyone being as alone as he is. He never seems to have any friends around him.”

            “I wonder why,” Serena muttered, turning the token between her fingers.

            “I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but I get the feeling he’s had real problems with his family. He never talks about them, and I know he’s living all on his own. It’s like he’s shut himself off from everyone.” Andrew gave a self-deprecating shrug and a half-smile. “Besides, when he’s not being so sarcastic, he’s great to be around.”

            Serena stayed silent, staring down at the little round chip in her hand.

            “He’s a fiend on the machines.” Andrew nudged her shoulder. “You’ve got that in common. You’re both addicted to Sailor V.”

            Serena wrinkled her nose with an irritated scowl.

            “You mean _Darien_ is ‘Masked Avenger’?”

            When Andrew nodded, her lip stuck out in a pout.

            “That is so not fair. I’ve been trying to beat his score for ages.”

            “There’s more to Darien than you think, Serena. Give him a chance and you might even find you like him.”

            “Oh, I seriously doubt it,” Serena grumbled, shoving the chip into the machine with a little too much force. The machine played a little tune at her and beeped encouragingly. “Besides, what do you mean, I should give him a chance? I’m not the one who started all this.”

            “All what?”

            “All this fighting.” Serena waved a hand vaguely, giving a little squeak and grabbing at the game controls again as a burst of electronic fire shot across the screen. “I mean, it’s not me, is it? I’m a perfectly friendly person. You wouldn’t say I don’t know how to be friendly, would you?”

            Andrew grinned. “No. No, that’s about the last thing I’d ever accuse you of, Serena.”

            “And Raye’s even worse. At least Darien doesn’t pretend to like me, but Raye’s supposed to be my friend and she’s even worse with the insults than Darien is. I sometimes wonder why I bother.”

            “So, why do you?”

            “Hunh?”

            “There must be a reason why you two hang around together. You don’t go to the same school; you aren’t in any clubs together, and you don’t have the same hobbies; you certainly aren’t much alike.”

            Serena wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know.”

            On the screen, the cute little Sailor V spun around and died as Serena watched at it blankly.

            “I honestly don’t know.” She stared down at her hands on the controls, remembering suddenly the feeling when she’d looked up to find Mars standing over her protectively, and the brief flash of scared relief in Raye’s dark eyes, that Serena almost thought she’d imagined, whenever she got stuck into Serena for nearly getting herself killed again. “I guess I do kind of like her.”

            Serena’s expression screwed up into a pout.

            “Even if she and Darien are a perfect pair.”

            _Darien and Raye._ As if a smug creep like Darien would even consider a junior high girl. He’d probably laugh himself sick at the idea, and Raye was only going to get herself hurt.

            She found herself thinking about them the next day at school, in history, idly scribbling faces in the margin of her notebook that were recognisable by the long black hair and priestess’ robes, and the big witchy nose, until Miss Haruna slapped a ruler across her desk and brought her back to earth with a thud.

            As she walked home from school, thoughtfully licking an icecream, she imagined Raye, brutally rejected and crying her eyes out, and she imagined herself nobly not saying ‘I told you so’. She would console and comfort, and Raye would admit that Serena’d been right about Darien all along.

            Serena stared at the icecream cone in her hand, her nose wrinkling a little as she licked it absently. She sighed. For some reason, the therapeutic powers of vanilla icecream weren't working today. The vanilla dribbled a cold, sticky trail down her hand, and she quickly chased it before it could drip on her school uniform. Sigh.

            “Don’t you ever get tired of sweets?” Luna asked in a long-suffering tone, pattering behind Serena. Serena responded absently, and licked up another dribble of icecream.

            It wasn’t like her to let anything spoil her appetite, but Serena had to admit that vanilla icecream just wasn’t doing the trick today, and it was all Raye’s fault.

            Of course, Raye could like whoever she wanted to, Serena admitted reluctantly. It wasn’t as if they were really friends. Raye had made it perfectly clear, ever since she had found out that she was a Sailor Scout too, that she didn’t think much of Serena.

            Serena sighed. She’d tried to get the dark-haired priestess to like her. Raye was elegant. Raye was smart. Raye was beautiful and strong and passionate. Everything that Serena wasn’t.

            And Raye despised her for not being perfect too.

 _Well, fine_ , Serena pouted. Raye probably would have risked herself to help anyone who was in danger, and she’d most likely hallucinated that look of concern in Raye’s eyes, and they definitely weren’t the best of friends, but it still felt a little bit like betrayal when a fellow Scout got all cosy with her worst enemy.

            _Darien and Raye._ Serena gave the icecream in her hand a little grimace, swallowing the last bite. _Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen._

            “… and you’re not even listening to me, are you,” Luna said in long-suffering tones.

            “Hunh?” Serena looked down at her empty hand in disgust. For the first time ever, she hadn't even tasted a single mouthful of ice-cream.

            “What a waste,” she muttered, wiping her hands on her skirt.

            “Isn’t that Raye?” Luna asked, and Serena looked around curiously. Across the road, she could see the raven-haired priestess, who was pacing along the edge of a building, stopping every now and then to peer around the corner. “It looks like she’s waiting for someone.”

            “What on earth is she doing?” Serena muttered under her breath, frowning a little as Raye reached up to smooth down her hair nervously. Cool, poised Raye was acting very oddly. Then the explanation became clear as Serena saw Raye take a deep breath and step into the path of someone rounding the corner.

            Darien.

            In an instant, Raye tripped and fell flat on her face right in front of Darien, and Serena had to clap her hand over her mouth to smother a sudden giggle.

            “Poor Raye,” she muttered insincerely, trying not to giggle, as she ignored the sceptical look Luna gave her. “How humiliating …”

            But her words trailed away, and she felt herself go rigid with shock. Across the road, Raye was saying something, and Serena held her breath as Darien started to push past her … and then … and …

            Raye took his arm. He actually let her hold his arm, and Raye looked up at him with a wide smile that looked to Serena like smug triumph, and Serena felt sick.

            “What does she think she’s doing?” she whispered, and her hands curled up into fists. Her feet started to move of their own accord. “And why does she have to hang all over him like that?”

            “Here we go,” Luna sighed, and Serena looked down quickly. “I can see jealousy rearing its ugly head.”

            “I am not jealous,” she said sharply. “I’m just … concerned.”

            Across the road, Darien looked up and seemed to glance in her direction, and Serena flattened herself against a wall out of sight. Unconsciously, her nails dug into her palms as the unlikely pair sauntered away down the street with Raye leaning against Darien’s shoulder.

            Serena vaguely heard Luna call her name as she sprinted after them, but she ignored the cat’s despairing wail. There was no way Raye was going to get away with this.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

 

She don’t like the things I say

But, oh, the games we play

She’s too good for me

[Sting]

 

            With some horror, Darien caught himself short of stepping on the girl sprawled on the path in front of him.

            "Oh, man." He backed up, running one hand through his hair as she scrambled to her feet, her face bright red. "Sorry about that. I didn't even see you there."

            She was too close, invading his personal space and flicking long dark hair back as she surreptitiously tried to brush the dirt marks off her skirt. Darien backed up another step, his concern fading into annoyance as the girl moved a little closer. He had a feeling he'd seen her somewhere before.

            "Oh, no, it was all my fault," she said breathlessly.

            "Yeah. I know." Darien cut her off abruptly, annoyance rising fast as he caught the girl’s wide-eyed look of infatuation. With a cynical lift of his eyebrow, he strode past her.

            "Hold on!" the girl called after him, her voice working up to good and mad. She swung around in front of him, forcing him to a stop, and Darien felt his expression stiffen into hauteur. He looked down at the dark-haired girl.

            Now that he came to think about it, he had the feeling that she was one of the girls he'd vaguely noticed around Serena. What was her name?

            "Raye,” he finally said with a supreme effort of memory, his voice slightly chilly and dismissive. “I'm kind of in a hurry."

            It didn't have quite the effect he was after, and he sighed faintly as her face lit up.

            "Oh," Raye almost clapped her hands, gazing up at him. "You know my name. I thought you wouldn't remember. Are you coming back from a martial arts class?"

            Darien made some vague response, his eyes shifting impatiently past the girl looking up at him hopefully, and caught a glimpse of gold pigtails. Across the road, Serena was staring at them with a ridiculous expression of indignant outrage.

            Darien surreptitiously watched as Serena flattened herself against a wall and almost overbalanced as she leaned back around the corner, trying to see what he and Raye were doing. What on earth was the girl up to now?

            "So, do you want to go get a milkshake with me?"

            "I'm supposed to be meeting someone." Darien's voice was distracted and disinterested.

            "We can do takeout?" Raye offered hopefully. Past her shoulder, across the road, Darien could still see a pair of bright blue eyes peering around the corner at them. They vanished as soon as she realised he'd seen her. So Miss Pigtails didn't like him talking to her friend, did she?

            "Why not," he decided, and a wicked little smile twitched his lips. "Andrew can wait."

            He let Raye slip a hand around his arm, let her hug it a little too possessively as they strolled down the street. _Are you getting a good look at this, blondie?_ Darien casually glanced back over his shoulder, and there she was, pretending she was a lamppost. With sudden deliberation, Darien turned a corner, and Raye followed, startled.

            Darien headed for a coffee shop near the university, trying to resist the urge to pull his arm free of Raye’s close hold. He was a little startled when she leaned closer, resting her head for a moment on his shoulder as he opened the door of the coffee shop, and his glance slid to watch Serena. He caught the expression on her face before she ducked out of sight again, and he gave a snort of laughter.

            "What's so funny?" Raye asked uncertainly, and Darien smothered his grin quickly.

            "Nothing," he told her. "Really. It's nothing. Hey, what about that milkshake?" He drew her through the door before she could turn and see who was following them.

            The waitress showed them to a booth, and as she slid the tall glasses of ice-cream and milk in front of them, Darien found himself distracted, watching for signs of familiar blonde pigtails through the window. As Raye talked at him, he thought he saw a flicker of gold, and leaned forward a little. That had to be her, sitting on the footpath under the window. Darien sat back in his chair, trying not to grin.

            " ... Darien?"

            "Hunh?" He looked up from the glass in front of him into Raye's hopeful dark eyes.

            "So do you have a girlfriend?"

            He shrugged. "No. Not right now."

            "Yeah, right. Who's got time for a relationship? Not me," Raye giggled nervously.

            Silence reigned.

            "So," Darien said finally. "You hang out at the arcade quite a bit?"

            "A bit, I guess."

            "How long have you been friends with Serena?" he asked casually, and Raye looked up from her milkshake in surprise.

            "Oh ... not long, I suppose, but it sometimes feels like forever," she added in exasperation. Darien stirred the ice-cream froth with his straw, saying nothing. "I mean," Raye continued, "she's a great friend, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for her, but ... ooh, she can be so frustrating sometimes."

            "Then why do you hang around with her?" Darien asked, not lifting his eyes from the straw. Raye said nothing for a moment and bit her lip thoughtfully.

            "Because ..." She had a strange expression, as if she'd never considered it before. "She can be really irritating, and she's never on time for anything, and she's a wimp and an airhead, but ... well, she just loves you so hard, you have to love her back. And I know we fight a lot, but I do care about her. I do."

            Darien looked at her curiously, and Raye turned red.

            "This is probably really boring to you," she muttered apologetically. She jumped to her feet, and Darien stood more slowly. "I really need a walk after all that milkshake," she said brightly, and suddenly seemed a little more hesitant.

            “Do you … Have you ever been to Fairview Park? They’ve got a lake, and you can rent boats …”

            _Oh, lord._ Darien had avoided flirtation with a passion, but even he knew what this meant. Perhaps he’d gone a little bit too far, picking up Serena’s friend to get Serena riled up, and he could see the warning signs in the way Raye was staring up at him and tripping over her words. Darien sighed. He didn’t need some adolescent crush to deal with.

            And just as his glance slid past her, trying to think of some excuse to be gone, he saw the golden pigtails at the next booth, bent over a milkshake that she seemed to be sharing with a tow-haired boy in thick glasses.

 _Where did the geek come from?_ Darien found himself thinking a little indignantly. _Surely she didn’t really have a date here all along?_

            She didn’t look up as he and Raye moved past them, and Darien felt his expression tighten, leaving a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. It sure looked as if Serena was enjoying her company.

            “Boats on the lake. Sure. Sounds like fun,” he said stonily, and didn’t resist as Raye took his arm again.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

 

Trying hard to make you jealous

Trying harder to make you stay

 

                                                                [Pal Waaktaar]

 

            If Darien had been in any mood to notice, the park was beautiful at that time of day, and the shaded paths were speckled with light through maple leaves starting to turn pale gold and amber in the coming autumn. The faint smell of late roses hung in the heavy air.

            Beside the paths, the azalea bushes rustled and chittered with the sound of squirrels, but a certain blonde was too busy trailing the happy couple to pay any attention to the beauties of nature, or the little, red, glowing eyes peering between the dark leaves at her. She ignored the boy trailing along behind her, wheezing as he tried to keep up, and gritted her teeth as she watched Darien stretch out a hand to help Raye into a rowboat. The sun was bright on the water, and the lake was a glorious sight, but Serena didn’t care.

            “What have they got to talk about all this time?” she muttered under her breath. A horrifying thought occurred to her. “They’re beginning to look … like lovebirds …”

            Behind her, she could hear Melvin pant as he came to a stop, bent almost double as he tried to get his breath back. He was in her class at school, and she’d always thought of him as mostly harmless - a geek, true, but harmless - but in retrospect, it had been a bad idea to sweet-talk him into buying her a milkshake when he’d found her following Raye and Darien. She’d had the brilliant notion of trying to get close enough to overhear what they were talking about, but she’d underestimated Melvin’s frustrated hormones, and when Darien and Raye had left the cafe, Serena had tried unsuccessfully to shake him off. Melvin sucked on a ventolin inhaler and straightened his glasses.

            “You don’t know how much this means to me,” he said bashfully, and Serena ignored him, squinting into the sunshine as she tried to make out what Raye and Darien were doing. “I’ve dreamed of this moment, and then suddenly you ask me on a date.”

            Serena gave a muffled shriek and shoved away the arms Melvin tried to wrap around her.

            “What do you think you’re doing?” she choked, backing up hastily as he tried again. “Melvin …”

            “We were meant to be together.”

            “Get serious!”

            “Just one little kiss …”

            Serena shrieked and fled. With Melvin on her heels, she ran through the park, dodging between the trees as she heard his laboured breathing behind her. Forcing her way through the bushes, the twigs catching at her hair and scratching her arms, she could hear his voice growing fainter and fainter, and she pushed through the other side of the shrubbery. Serena spilled out onto a path, scraping her hands and knees on the gravel as she fell.

            “Ow.”

            A girl’s breathy voice spoke her name, and Serena looked up wildly, almost expecting to see Melvin come crashing through the bushes behind her.

            “Oh. Amy, it’s you.” Serena grinned sheepishly up at the dark-haired girl staring down at her in surprise, Luna draped over one shoulder. She scrabbled to her feet, dusting her hands on her skirt. “You haven’t seen Melvin around anywhere, have you?”

            “No.” Amy gave her a strange look. “We’ve been looking for you. You weren’t answering your communicator.”

            “My communicator?” Serena patted herself absently, glancing back over her shoulder. “I guess I must’ve left it at home.”

            “Were you looking for Melvin?”

            “No!” Serena almost shrieked at that. “No way. I’ve only just lost him, back there somewhere, and I practically got scratched to pieces trying to escape from the sex-fiend. The last thing I want is to find him again.”

            “The way you treat that boy is a crime,” Luna muttered primly.

            “You haven’t seen anything weird, have you?” Amy asked. “Any animals acting strange?”

            “You mean other than Melvin?” Serena rolled her eyes.

            “There’s something going on in the park. We just saw someone attacked by squirrels, and I’ve got a really bad feeling that the Negaverse is behind this.”

            “You think?” Serena said dryly. “Nothing new there. So what’s …”

            She broke off as a sudden angry shout broke her train of thought. The girls both looked around, startled, as the park gardener ran towards them, his face twisted in a furious mask. As they watched, he crumpled and fell to the ground, and a demon rose like a mist over him, her hair a mass of twisting vines and plants that writhed around her sharp green face.

            “Time to die,” the monster grinned.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

 

Cool breeze and autumn leaves

Slow motion daylight

A lone pair of watchful eyes

Oversee the living

                                                                                                [D. Hayes & D. Jones]

 

            Afterwards, Darien found that everything after the blinding pain inside his skull, and the sudden wave that swamped the boat, was a blur. He distantly remembered struggling to drag himself onto the wooden boat dock beside the lake, and that was the last time he remembered seeing Raye, coughing up water beside him before she vanished, and he answered the summons to Sailor Moon’s aid.

            There was a battle, but the one thing that was clear was the paralysing chill that trickled through him when he saw that Serena had followed him into the park, and realised just how close she had come to becoming another Negaverse victim.

 _If she had walked into the middle of the fight …_ He felt sick at the thought. There were so many ways things could have gone badly wrong. _If she had seen Tuxedo Mask transform…_

            And then there was the truly humiliating aftermath. Sitting in the Crown Arcade later with his physics notes spread out around him on the counter, Darien was furiously trying to put it behind him, but he kept seeing that moment when he’d completely made a fool of himself.

            He’d come to with the rough wooden planks of the boat dock digging into his cheek, and gone staggering down the garden paths with his clothes damp and clinging to his skin in sticky patches, and little trails of pondweed sliding down his neck. And looking like the creature from the Black Lagoon, he’d walked straight into the middle of Serena’s little band of friends.

            He cringed at the memory, sure that after the way he’d picked on her, Serena would be laughing behind those big blue eyes, although the look she’d turned on her friend was a fascinating study of burning embarrassment and fury as Raye leaned over to whisper something at her.

            And then the dweeb had stumbled towards them, his glasses askew and twigs caught in his hair. The boy who had been gazing at Serena with rapt adoration in the cafe. While Serena vehemently insisted that she wasn’t dating the dweeb, Darien had watched the boy’s vague, besotted expression behind those thick glasses as he stared at Serena. Covered in pondweed and soaking wet, with water squelching uncomfortably in his shoes, Darien had felt a sudden, nasty stab of something.

            “I don’t know,” he’d said lightly. “He seems about your type to me. Although he is an improvement on your imaginary boyfriends.”

            Serena was definitely having a bad influence on him.

            In the arcade, Darien was staring blankly at the notebook open on the counter in front of him, when he heard the door slide open, and that unmistakeable voice. His pen stilled.

            She was wailing on Andrew’s shoulder again, the words indistinct through the sobs, and when Andrew finally returned to the counter Darien asked casually, “So, what’s up with her this time? Detention again?”

            Andrew grimaced as he slid in sideways behind the counter.

            “Not this time.” He dropped the crumpled bit of paper he had hidden in his hand on the bench in front of Darien with a strange expression of distaste. “This one’s a bit more serious, I think, and what I want to know is, what kind of guy would do a thing like that?”

            Darien smoothed out the piece of paper. His mouth tightened as he read it.

            “Somebody gave this to Serena?” he asked, his voice expressionless.

            “Yeah, and every other teenage girl in Azabu-Juban. Some guy calling himself Tuxedo Mask has invited all of them to the mall at midnight, and Serena’s crushed. She thought she’d gotten a special romantic letter, until she showed up at school today and everyone else had the exact same letter. Poor kid.” Andrew shrugged. “What’re the odds that some new tuxedo shop is opening tonight? I just wish they’d found a better way to advertise than playing up to young girls like that.”

            Darien didn’t say anything, gazing into space as he idly fingered the edge of the paper. Without thinking, his eyes slid to where Serena sat, golden head bent over the Sailor V game, staring at the screen as things exploded and died. Darien leaned back against the counter, watching, as Serena absently fed another coin into the machine and went back to staring at it blankly.

            On impulse, he slid off the stool and walked across the arcade, leaning over her shoulder. "Hey, meatball-head," he said softly.

            She gave a muffled shriek, trying to stand and turn at the same time, and Darien caught at her before she could wind up on the floor.

            "I didn't mean to scare you," he told her.

            "Oh ... no ... No, you didn't, I was just ... concentrating ..." She was backed up against the machine, her voice flustered. She looked down at his hand on her wrist, and he let go abruptly.

            "I was beginning to get worried about you," he said lightly. Her eyes lifted to his in surprise.

            "Worried? About me?"

            "You haven't been running interference on my life lately. I thought something might have happened."

            Her gaze dropped, and she kicked at the floor with one toe.

            "Oh." Another mercurial expression flitted across her face, and her voice changed. "How was your date with Raye?"

            "Why? Are you jealous?" Darien teased.

            "Jealous?" Serena gave him a startled, incredulous look. "Don't flatter yourself, buddy. I wouldn't date you if you were the last man on Earth."

            "You wouldn't get the chance," he taunted. "Then again, geeks seem to be about your speed," he added, an unconsciously sour note colouring his voice.

            "Melvin is not a gee ..." Serena broke off conscientiously. "Well, there's nothing wrong with being a geek, and anyway, it wasn't a date."

            "Sharing prune milkshakes?" Darien gave a snort. "Sure sounds like a date to me.”

            “I’d rather go out with someone like Melvin than a jerk like you! Raye must be out of her mind.”

            “Meatball-head.”

            “Stop calling me that!”

            “Why? I think it suits you. And if you weren’t on a date with the dweeb, then what were you doing following us around? Playing Nancy Drew or something?”

            “I was … concerned. For Raye,” she added quickly. Darien lifted an eyebrow.

            “Ri-ight.”

            “Well, I was.”

            “And what exactly did you think I was going to do to her? Kidnap her in broad daylight?”

            Serena stamped her foot. “Raye just doesn’t know what you’re really like.”

            “Yeah, well at least I’d never send love letters to every girl in Azabu-Juban. You really can pick the losers, blondie.”

            “How did you know about …?”

            “I mean, you’d have to be a complete sucker to fall for that one. Or really desperate. You have no idea who this guy is, even, or what he really wants, and he sure isn’t very discriminating. I’d hardly call a mass mailout a good way to pick up girls.”

            “The letter was really meant for me,” she said mutinously. “He just didn’t know how to find me.”

            Darien almost laughed. _She’s got a crush on Tuxedo Mask too?_ And then a sudden realisation chilled him.

            “Wait a minute. You don’t seriously mean you’re going along with this? Even you couldn’t be dumb enough to show up at the mall. How do you know that this isn’t some sort of a trap? You get a letter from some guy you’ve never even met and all it takes is a few hearts and kisses and you’re falling all over yourself. Serena, that’s not romantic; that’s creepy. But then,” he said, thinking of the boy in the coke-bottle glasses, “your taste in men isn’t exactly legendary.”

            “At least my taste is better than Raye’s,” Serena scowled. “He could be a kidnapper, or an axe-murderer, and he’d still be better than you. You just stay away from Raye, that’s all.”

            "Make me." _Make me?_ Darien groaned silently. _Oh, very mature, Darien_. This girl was a bad influence.

            "Maybe I will."

            "Oh, yeah? You and what army, blondie?" He folded his arms, smirking just a little.

            "I have my ways," she threw back loftily, that small nose tilted.

            Darien leaned in, touching one finger to the tip of her nose, and she backed up against the arcade game another step. "If I choose to go anywhere with your little friend, then there's not a thing you can do to stop me." He grinned. "Face it, blondie. You're just jealous. And you needn’t bother going to the mall; I happen to know that Tuxedo Mask isn’t interested in the jealous type.”

            While she was still speechless with fury, he pushed his hands into his pockets and strode away. _Five ... four ... three ..._

            "I am not jealous!" Serena screeched. Darien flipped her a little wave as the door slid shut behind him.

            He was half a block away when he suddenly stopped.

            "Darien, you idiot," he muttered to himself, strongly tempted to beat his head against a wall. How had he allowed her to goad him into this? Five minutes in Serena's irritating presence and sane thought just seemed to evaporate. And now he'd backed himself into another date with Serena's friend, because if he didn't Serena was bound to crow like anything over him and he'd be damned if he'd let her …

            Darien really did beat his head against a handy wall this time.

            And after all that, he’d let himself get sidetracked. Serena was going to the mall at midnight to meet a dangerous imposter.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

 

I’ve never been the praying kind

But lately I’ve been down upon my knees

Not looking for a miracle

Just a reason to believe

                                                                        [D. Hayes & D. Jones]

 

            Darien found the idea of someone using his name to lure kids into a trap horribly unsettling.

            As he stared vacantly at the books spread out across his coffee table, he frowned, tapping a pen absently against the edge of the table. Feeling unaccountably restless, Darien slid to his feet and strode over to the window, hardly noticing when the phone rang behind him, and the answering machine finally clicked and cut off the sound of Raye’s voice.

            _Surely she wouldn’t really go?_

            His frown deepened, and when he felt the dream tug at the edges of his awareness again, he flung himself into it with an unusual vigour. Tonight the enemy would be at the mall, where all the teenage girls of Azabu-Juban were going to be. Including Sailor Moon. _And Serena._

            When the dream threw him out into the strange and silent world of the empty shopping mall, dark windows full of faceless mannequins and dresses, he had one heart-stopping moment as a dark figure descended and a young girl stepped forward to meet him. Black satin cape floated around them both, then Darien saw the girl’s red hair as she turned adoring eyes on the man who stood over her.

            _He’s not me!_ Darien protested silently, then out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a flicker of golden pigtails, and his heart froze again. _Serena’s here._ He realised his mistake as Sailor Moon stepped forward, her boot heels echoing loudly on the marble floor.

            Sailor Moon shrieked, “Molly!”

            And the girl fell back, her red hair spilling over Nephrite’s arm as he caught her, bending over her with a gesture of almost vampiric seduction. The girl hung limply, her face pale in the dark shadows, and Nephrite raised a hand over her, glowing and growing steadily brighter with a strange light as the girl in his arms faded almost visibly.

            “Molly!!”

            Sailor Moon’s frantic shriek shattered the silent darkness, and Nephrite’s head snapped up. He smiled oddly, his figure luminous, and with a swift movement, he shoved the girl’s slack body at Sailor Moon, who caught her and stumbled under the sudden weight.

            “Here. Take your little friend.” Nephrite looked down at his hands, flickering now with a brilliant energy. “And do thank her for me. Her energy was just what I needed, and now it’s time for you to taste it for yourself. Leo!”

            Nephrite threw up his hands, spreading them wide.

            “I call upon the power of the stars! Send me the astral lion!”

            Darien watched in horror as the light between Nephrite’s hands spilled to the floor, and coalesced … and roared.

            As Nephrite laughed, a giant lion pawed the marble floor, staring at Sailor Moon crouched in front of it and supporting the red-head’s unconscious weight. The lion roared again, and Darien saw her face turn white.

            “Leave her!” he shouted. “It doesn’t want her – it’ll follow you!”

            And for a mercy, Sailor Moon unthinkingly lowered the girl to the ground and staggered to her feet. The lion’s head swung, watching her with its golden eyes. It paced forward.

            Darien threw the rose just in time, his cape swirling around him as he flung himself between Sailor Moon and the lion. The lion bellowed its fury, lowering its head and shaking its mane in a shower of glittering sparks.

            “Get out of here!”

            Sailor Moon just stared at him.

            “I’ll take care of this. Just go!” And she started to run, as Darien narrowed his eyes, watching the lion.

            Behind him he could hear the sound of her boot heels slow abruptly, and stop. _Dear gods, she was coming back._

            “Go!” he shouted.

            “Not without you!” she screamed.

            A small gloved hand grabbed at his arm, dragging it backwards with surprising strength, and Darien was being tugged against his will. He could see the lion begin to pace. He turned and ran, pushing Sailor Moon forward when she stumbled. They ran the length of the dark and echoing mall, the lion’s hot breath behind them, and together they flung themselves into the gaping maw of an open lift. He smacked his hand against the buttons just as the lion crouched and sprang, and Sailor Moon shrank back with a sharp squeal as the lion exploded in a shower of fire and the doors slammed shut.

            For a long moment, Darien just stood there, leaning against the wall of the lift with his eyes closed.

            “That was close,” Sailor Moon said quietly, and he looked up. She was still pressed into a corner, her hands shaking a little where they were flattened on the glass mirror that covered the walls.

            Slowly, Darien turned, and his reflections followed. He lifted his gaze to stare at the ceiling, and raised one hand, running his fingertips along the welded metal overhead.

            “This was a really bad idea,” he said.

            “What’s wrong?”

            He gestured. “I have this thing about walking right into Negaverse traps. Generally, I try to avoid them, but we do seem to be stuck in a little metal box, with Nephrite somewhere out there plotting our deaths.”

            In the mirrors, he could see her face turn white.

            “For such a little thing, you really do make some big enemies,” he said.

            There was a sudden boom, and everything shuddered. Sailor Moon choked back a tiny squeak, and squeezed her eyes shut, as Darien regained his balance. As the walls shook again, he leaned back, his eyes on the welded square. One hand went out, and felt the cane fall into his palm, and with all his weight behind it, he swung it at the ceiling. The welding exploded in a rain of molten metal, and Darien ducked out of the way as the square of metal fell with a sharp clatter.

            Sailor Moon was staring at him, her eyes wide, as he stretched up and launched himself at the tiny opening. He swung his legs through, and reached down a hand.

            “Time to go, Sailor Moon.”

            She took a tentative step forward, and as the lift juddered again, and lurched, she ran, and Darien felt her catch at his hand. He hauled her up, one arm around her as he stared up into the darkness above them.

            “We’re nearly at the top,” he explained quietly. She just nodded, unusually silent. “When I say jump, we jump for it. Try to grab the ladder that runs down the shaft, because Nephrite’s going to send this thing straight to the bottom, with us in it if he can.”

            He felt a shiver run through her.

            “We’ll be okay,” he said gently, and she moved closer.

            “I know,” she whispered back. In the shadows, her eyes were wide. The end was drawing closer.

            As the lift made a strange grinding sound, slowly inching up the last few steps, they were getting nearer, and nearer …

            “Now!” Darien threw himself into the darkness. He felt his fingers catch at the edge of something and heard Sailor Moon scream; blindly, his other hand shot out and grabbed at her wrist as she fell, with a jerk that wrenched at their shoulders and nearly pulled him over the edge. Below them, the lift shrieked and plummeted into the darkness with a sound like thunder.

            They hung precariously in the black lift shaft, and the only light that Darien could see as he looked up was a faint thread of gold above his fingers where light shone through the cracks in a door just above him, faintly illuminating the narrow doorstep that he was clinging to with one hand. He felt Sailor Moon’s wrist slide a little, and the girl gave a strangled scream.

            “Don’t drop me!”

            He forced himself to breathe again, and spoke calmly and slowly, hearing her breathing coming too fast and panicky from the darkness below him.

            “I’ll never drop you. You know I’ll never drop you. Now, can you stand on my foot? Use it to climb up and hold on to me, and then I can use both hands. Everything’s going to be fine.”

            Darien felt her shift, and her weight swung a little as she hauled herself up, but he could only hold his breath until he felt her set one foot on his and her arms wrap around his neck. She was safe, and his other arm reached up to grab the ledge, feeling the square marble edge dig into his fingers.

            Her breath was warm on the back of his neck, and as he shifted a little, trying to get a better grip, she gave a little gasp, burying her face against his back.

            “Ease up a little,” he told her gently, “or I’ll strangle to death, and then where will we be?”

            The chokehold loosened a fraction.

            “I can’t see the bottom,” she whispered. He could feel her shivering. “There’s nothing there, and it’s so black, all the way down …”

            “We’re not going to fall.” He was trying not to think about the fact that his grip was all that kept them from tumbling into the yawning darkness below, and that his fingers were beginning to ache like fire under the drag of their combined weight. “Think about something else.”

            There was a long silence, and Darien kept his eyes fixed on the thin sliver of light over his head while Sailor Moon tried to hold still. He could feel her frightened breath on the back of his neck, disturbing his hair. In the motes of light he was beginning to see things.

            “I’m so sorry about all this,” Sailor Moon said miserably. “Mars is right. I’m a lousy Scout, and if you didn’t keep turning up, I’d be toast by now. How come you’re always risking your neck to save me?”

            “I was sent to keep you safe.” His mouth quirked in a painful little smile in the darkness. “And believe me, it’s a tough mission sometimes.”

            There was a long silence.

            “Oh,” she said in a small voice. “Oh, I see. It’s okay, I didn’t really think it was because you … I mean, it’s not as if someone like you would … I understand. Everyone seems to think that I can’t look after myself,” she added bitterly. “And you wouldn’t be in trouble, hanging over certain death here, if I wasn’t so hopeless at all this Sailor Moon stuff.”

            “No,” he said quickly, then, “No, that’s not it,” he repeated more firmly as he realised it was true. She could be irritating and melodramatic, but there was a strange courage in her, and he was starting to wonder what would happen if he had to face her … challenge her … to take the Crystal. He wasn’t sure of the outcome anymore, because reluctantly – oh, very reluctantly – he liked this girl too much.

            “It’s nothing I wouldn’t have chosen. Well, perhaps not the whole hanging by my fingernails above a nasty fall. But there’s something about you that just brings out all my protective instincts. I get a strange feeling about you.”

            “I know; it all feels so familiar. I wonder if I know you in real life?”

            With Sailor Moon’s distracted comment, it occurred to Darien that he had never wondered who Sailor Moon really was. Hanging there in the darkness, with a pain like fire prickling at his fingers, he realised that there was a teasing glamour that hung around her like mist, sending his thoughts skittering in other directions whenever he tried to see her clearly. _Like the princess,_ he thought suddenly.

            And it was obvious, in hindsight, that something must be concealing his own identity. A little white mask was hardly a convincing disguise.

            “Magic,” he muttered under his breath.

            Against his back, her warmth spread through him, and he felt her shaky little laugh.

            “I always thought magic would be so wonderful,” she whispered in his ear. “Exciting and fun … but what do I get? A talking cat who nags me all the time, and a tiara I can use as a frisbee.”

            In the darkness, he gave a painful little laugh.

            “Being a magical girl scout isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” She sighed. “But I did get to know you,” she added shyly.

            He could feel his fingers slipping, turning numb with pain. He closed his eyes.

            “You don’t know me at all,” he said tiredly.

            The weight was pulling him down, and he fought to hold on.

            “I don’t even know myself.”

            “Oh gods, I hate this.”

            He knew she wasn’t just talking about their situation. She was shaking so hard now, he was afraid they were both going to fall, and his fingers slipped further, tense to breaking point.

            “I’m going to try to climb up,” she said suddenly.

            Darien felt her arms shift, and her weight as she slowly, painstakingly tried to gain purchase with one foot on his hip. He closed his eyes, fighting the strain on his fingers, and Sailor Moon choked on a small scream as they swayed, then she was balanced on his shoulders, leaning precariously against the wall of the shaft as the pressure increased on his fingers and for a moment he was sure they were going to fall, and then abruptly, she was gone. He looked up, struggling to get a better grip.

            Sailor Moon was wedged into the doorway above him on a ledge not wider than her bootheels, stretching gingerly for the panel of buttons beside her on the wall. There was a grating noise, and golden light suddenly poured down over him. He blinked.

            Sailor Moon stumbled and vanished backwards into the light, then there she was again, her hands stretched out.

            “Catch my hands!”

            Later, Darien wondered why on earth he hadn’t hesitated. He hadn’t even questioned that she wouldn’t let him fall. When had he come to trust this girl so much that as soon as she said _Catch!_ he let go of the ledge? Then he was falling, and she caught his outstretched hands; he felt her slide as she took his weight. She made a small noise, her arms straining to hold him.

            There had been a moment, somewhere, when he had known that there was steel behind those blue eyes that even she wasn’t aware of. Something in her that would walk through fire and ice and death itself to protect the ones she cared about, and his life was safe in her hands. He squeezed his eyes shut.

            Abruptly the strain eased, and Darien looked up into the golden light to make out two slim figures in Sailor Scout uniforms standing in the open door above him, their hands on Sailor Moon, dragging her back as she held onto him with all her strength, pulling him up into the brilliant light. It was dimly surprising how strong she could be, for all her fragile appearance.

            The Scouts hauled Darien through the doorway, and as he knelt on the marble floor, Darien could see Mars bending over Sailor Moon, quickly assessing the damage, as the blonde girl rubbed life and feeling back into her shoulders. There was something in Mars’ dark eyes that might have been relief before it clouded into a strange fury. Mars folded her arms.

            “You didn’t even think to tell us where you were going, did you? Or wait for us to back you up.”

            “What was the point?” Sailor Moon was arguing back.

            Darien ignored them, knowing they were all safe, and got to his feet. The silent, empty mall was alive with activity now. Teenage girls, noisy and excited, were milling around, and Darien frowned. Without realising what he was doing, he found himself searching the bright crowd for a hint of gold.

            “It’s him!” someone shrieked, and Darien turned abruptly. “It’s Tuxedo Mask!”

            The mass of girls were all staring at him now, and as the first of them broke free and pelted towards him, waving a letter in her hand, Darien’s cold calm deserted him.

            _Dear gods._

            He fled.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

 

You drive me crazy, but it feels alright

Baby, thinking of you keeps me up all night

                                                                                                                [Max Martin]

 

            As soon as Serena had shaken off Mars’ rough ministrations, she looked around the mall. Girls she knew from school, and girls she’d never seen before, were slowly drifting away in small groups as they decided that the excitement was over for the night. Tuxedo Mask was gone. Further away, Serena caught a glimpse of a red-headed figure slowly and painfully getting to her feet, holding her head as if it hurt.

            “Molly!” Serena ran towards her friend, and the girl looked up, her hazel eyes dazed as she frowned a little. Molly’s eyes widened.

            “Sailor Moon,” she breathed. “But … how do you know my name?”

            As Serena skidded to a halt uncertainly, Molly shook her head vaguely.

            “Oh, yeah. The jewellery shop. You came then, too, and beat up the monster that looked like my mother.”

            Serena reached out involuntarily as Molly swayed, her face turning white.

            “Molly, you need to sit down.”

            “Oh, I don’t feel so good.” She slid to the ground again. “What happened? Was there another monster?”

            “Neph … Maxfield Stanton,” Serena corrected herself, remembering that Molly still didn’t know the Negaverse general as anything other than the businessman that he was pretending to be. “Maxfield Stanton did something to you and drained all your energy. Molly, you have to stay away from him. He’s evil, and he’s hurt you …”

            “No!”

            Serena rocked back on her heels, startled, as the haze in Molly’s eyes cleared a little and the girl sat up straight.

            “No, that’s not it,” Molly said more firmly. “He’s not like that. Maxfield wouldn’t do that. You just don’t know him.”

            “Molly …”

            Molly pushed herself to her feet again.

            “Thank you for your help, Sailor Moon,” she said distantly. “I have to go home now. My mother will be worrying. I have to go home.”

            Serena started to follow her as she walked away, holding herself too stiffly as if trying not to fall over, but then Mars and Mercury appeared at her side, and she fell back. She’d never seen Molly act so strange, but it didn’t seem to be the effects of Nephrite’s attack.

            “Sailor Moon? Are you okay?”

            Sailor Moon stared after her friend, hugging her arms around herself.

            “Sailor Moon?” Mercury asked again.

            “Oh, she’s got it bad,” Serena said dismally. She shook her head, and turned to give the other Scouts a weak smile. “This is so not good. Why couldn’t Molly fall for someone normal?”

            “Normal?” Serena caught Mars’ raised eyebrow as magic flickered like fire around the priestess and vanished like smoke, leaving Raye standing there. “Someone normal … like a guy in a cape and mask?”

            “At least Tuxedo Mask’s not a homicidal maniac from the Negaverse.”

            “That we know of,” Raye added.

            “You take that back!”

            Raye sniffed. “Face it, we don’t know anything about him. We don’t know where he comes from, or what he wants, or why he keeps helping out.”

            “Because he was sent to keep me safe,” Serena muttered, pouting. Why did Raye always have to spoil everything?

            “And who sent him? Did you bother to ask that?”

            “It does seem a little strange,” Amy said apologetically, stepping out of the whirlwind of blue ice as she transformed back from Mercury, and once more moved unconsciously between them, acting as a buffer. “Did he say anything about who it was who sent him?”

            “Not … exactly … And anyway, we were facing certain death at the time. I had other things to think about. And he said he liked me … well, he said that there was something about me, which is almost the same thing …”

            “Yeah, right.” Raye folded her arms. “You wish.”

            Amy turned a reproving look on the priestess, and Raye shrugged unapologetically.

            “I just think it’s silly, mooning over a guy she doesn’t even know,” Raye said.

            As Serena watched them walk away, she muttered under her breath, “But I do know him. I know I do.”

            He felt so familiar, somehow, and in the lift shaft she’d known unquestionably that she could trust him with her life. Flattened against his back and hanging on for dear life, she’d been terrified beyond anything she’d ever known, and in a weird kind of way, she’d never been happier.

            _And he said there was something about me,_ she thought happily as she pushed open the gate to her house, wincing as it squeaked a little. It was past midnight, and all the windows in her house were dark, as Serena tried to quietly clamber up the tree to her bedroom window. Every tiny noise made her flinch as she slid open her bedroom window and fell inside.        

            “If only Tuxedo Mask was Andrew,” she sighed. Flinging her clothes on the floor, she dragged on her pyjamas and threw herself onto her bed. She hugged her pillow tightly to her chest. “Now that would be perfect!”

            As she stared vaguely up at the ceiling, she was floating away on a dream with Tuxedo Mask beside her, his mysterious dark eyes gazing down into hers.

_“My darling, at last we are alone” …_ She squeaked, burying her face in the pillow, imagining him bending down, a little closer … _“Your eyes are like pools of enchantment” …_ and closer … _“Your lips are like cherries, and your hair…”_ the voice abruptly changed _“…is like a pair of meatballs!”_

            “Arghh!!”

            Serena’s eyes flew open and she flung her pillow at the wall, glaring at the ceiling until the image of Darien’s smirk went away. Even in her daydreams Darien Chiba wouldn’t leave her alone.

            Her scowl faded.

            As she dragged her quilt up around her chin, she sighed. “What am I going to do about Molly?”


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

 

That this indifference

Was my invention

When everything I did

Sought your attention

                                                [Sting]

 

            It was unusually quiet in the arcade for a Sunday. Or maybe, Darien thought a little dryly as he frowned at the crane game in front of him, it was just the absence of Serena’s ever-present voice. It had been a few days since he had been pulled into the dream to help Sailor Moon, and he found himself oddly restless and edgy without the adrenaline rush of battle.

            He leaned one shoulder against the glass, concentrating on the tiny green kappa doll on top of the pile of toys as he lined up the crane. He hit the button and the claw dropped. The kappa rolled to one side and Darien swore, hitting the controls with one fist. His focus was shot.

            “Ease up,” Andrew called from the other side of the arcade. “You break it, Darien, you pay for it.”

            Darien ignored him, glaring at the vague reflections in the glass. He was still unsettled and shaken after the night at the mall, more furious with himself for that dangerous, instinctive - _and_ , he told himself, _misguided_ \- moment of faith in Sailor Moon’s strength than anything else.

_And if I’d dragged her over the edge with me? What then?_

            “So what’s got you all worked up?” Andrew asked curiously. “Raye was telling me she’d finally managed to talk you into going out with her, so shouldn’t you be in a good mood?”

            Darien frowned, his shoulders tensing under the grin he could feel behind his back. In the glass, he could see Andrew shake his head.

            “So Mr Untouchable turns down every woman at Azabu University cold, and winds up dating a girl still in junior high. Where did you end up going with her?”

            “A doll show,” Darien said sourly.

            Andrew’s reflection was staring at him as if he’d just grown another head, or announced that he was going to fight evil in a tuxedo and top hat. Serena, Darien decided, had a lot to answer for. If she hadn’t practically challenged him, he never would have accepted Raye’s invitation in the first place.

            As if he’d conjured her just by thinking about her, he could suddenly feel Serena behind him. He looked up into the vague golden blur of her reflection, and turned to find a strangely subdued Serena, her attention fixed on Andrew. She was twisting the pink strap of her handbag into knots, and Darien felt his ill-humour melt into confusion. Serena was trying not to show that she was upset, and that was somehow more disturbing than if she’d burst into tears.

            He glanced back at Andrew, his impassive expression creasing in a tiny frown as Andrew smiled cheerfully. Had the guy completely missed just how upset Serena was? Why wasn’t he doing something?

            “Hey, Serena. How’s it going?”

            “Okay,” she told Andrew tentatively, looking anything but. “Um … Andrew, can I talk to you about something?” She finally looked up from her tangled handbag, flicking a quick glance in Darien’s direction, and Andrew looked over at the boy sweeping the floor in between the machines.

            “Sure … For my favourite customer, I guess Michael can take care of things here for a few minutes. Do you want to go get a milkshake?”

            Serena’s face lit up with relief, and Darien pushed himself away from the game machine.

            “Why don’t we all go,” he said blandly, ignoring the dark look Serena shot at him.

            “What do you want a milkshake for, all of a sudden?” she asked pointedly.

            “Maybe I’m just thirsty.”

            “Yeah, right,” she muttered.

            He watched her out of the corner of his eye, noting how she didn’t walk as if she was dancing on air, how she kept her eyes on the footpath and the corners of her mouth serious. Whatever it was, this was something big. Andrew made oblivious comments about the weather, and arcade game scores, and Serena barely responded.

            She hardly acknowledged Darien as the three of them slid into a booth at the cafe, her eyes fixed on the table until the waitress slid their drinks in front of them. Darien broke in on Andrew’s amiable chatter.

            “So what’s this all about?” he asked, more gently than he’d intended, and Serena’s eyes lifted to him, startled. They dropped again.

            “I just … I needed to talk to someone,” she started anxiously, turning to Andrew beside her. “See, I’ve got this friend, Molly, and she’s in love with this guy … this older guy … who’s really bad. I mean, he’s evil through and through, and Molly just doesn’t know what he’s really like, and I don’t know what to do.”

            Serena was looking up at Andrew anxiously with those big blue eyes, her hot chocolate forgotten between her hands.

            “So what do I do? I mean, this guy is majorly bad news, except Molly can’t see it, and I really don’t want to see her get hurt, but she won’t listen to me.”

            Serena ran out of breath and stopped, biting her lip. While Andrew thought for a moment, Darien watched her stir patterns in the marshmallows, her face unnaturally solemn and intense. It must be nice, he thought a little wistfully, to have someone care about you as much as Serena cared about her friend. She’d even forgotten to drink the hot chocolate in front of her.

             Andrew cleared his throat.

            “Well,” he said slowly, “I guess you should probably wait and see what happens – you wouldn’t want to jump in and upset Molly without good reason …”

            “But I’ve got good reason,” Serena protested. “This guy’s bad right through, and he’s just going to use Molly.”

            Darien gave Andrew a vaguely contemptuous glance.

            “Waiting’s not going to change anything,” he said quietly. Serena shot him a startled glance. “If she thinks she loves him, she should know what he’s like before she gets in too deep to get out. It probably won’t change her mind, but she should know what she’d letting herself in for.”

            He shrugged. “Tell her what you know. She’ll probably hate you for it,” he said cynically, “but at least she won’t be walking blindly into a dangerous relationship.”

            Serena’s eyes dropped to stare into the mug in front of her.

            “You could be right,” Andrew said thoughtfully. “Perhaps you should talk to Molly first.”

            Darien watched as Serena scrunched up her nose in serious thought. He could almost see the arguments chasing themselves through that bright gold head of hers; the girl was so amazingly transparent. Then she looked up, her blue eyes fierce and determined, her decision made.

            “I’ll do it,” she said. She picked up the mug and drained it, scrubbing the marshmallow fluff from her nose with the back of one hand. “I just have to tell Molly, that’s all.”

            The dynamo was back, Darien thought wryly, as Serena waved her hand to catch the waitress’ attention.

            “ ‘Scuse me,” she called, and Darien blinked as she reeled off an order that would have fed him for a week.

            “Do you have any money on you?” he hissed at Andrew under his breath. Andrew’s smile had frozen.

            “Not that much,” Andrew groaned, his eyes widening in disbelief as the waitress slid a large pizza and a hamburger and fries onto the table, and Serena clapped her hands in delight. “I guess we’ll be paying this off by washing dishes for a month.”

            “What’s this ‘we’?” Darien muttered. Serena waved a pizza slice at them, her nose scrunching.

            “I heard that,” she said blithely, around a mouthful of cheese. “I’ve got pocket money. This’s on me, for helping me out. Try the pizza, it’s really good.”

            Darien just shook his head. “How on earth do you manage to eat so much without turning into a meatball all round?”

            “Just naturally gorgeous,” she said cheerfully, and stuck her tongue out at him. He firmly resisted the impulse to stick his tongue out back at her, and stole a handful of fries from under her nose. Serena reached out to smack his hand.

            “Hey!” she complained, and Darien grinned at her. “Those are mine.”

            “Not anymore, they’re not. And anyway, you’ve still got the pizza and a whole burger.”

            “I’ve got to get going,” Andrew interrupted. Darien stole some more fries.

            “See you tomorrow,” he said as Andrew slid out of the booth, and Serena turned those beautiful blue eyes on Andrew, the half-eaten pizza in her hand forgotten as she looked up at him wistfully. Darien suddenly found himself wishing a little jealously that she would look at him like that, and just as quickly crushed the thought.

            “Do you have to go?” Serena was asking mournfully.

            “ ‘Fraid so. I’ve got to get back to work, but Darien’ll keep you company,” Andrew assured her. Serena pulled a face.

            “Oh, goody,” she muttered.

            “Yeah, well, it’s not exactly my idea of a good time, watching you eat,” Darien shot back, frowning.

            “So who asked you to watch?”

            They hardly noticed as Andrew stood to go, a huge smile on his face.

            “Have fun, guys!” he called, and Serena glared at Darien as he picked a bit of pepperoni off the pizza in her hand.

            “You can leave any time, you know,” she said pointedly as the doors closed behind Andrew. Darien grinned wickedly.

            “Oh, I quite like it here.” He reached for another bit of pepperoni, and Serena jerked the pizza slice out of reach.

            “Get your own pizza.”

            “Watch the cheese,” he pointed out helpfully, his grin getting wider as Serena squeaked, juggling to keep everything from sliding off. “Boy, you’re messy.”

            “Look what you’ve made me do,” she complained, licking cheese and sauce off her fingers. He watched, fascinated, as she caught a stray drip on one finger, nose wrinkling as she put her finger in her mouth thoughtfully.

            “Wow,” he said softly, almost to himself. “You really do like your food.”

            Her eyes snapped open. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked suspiciously.

            “Just that you really seem to be enjoying that,” he responded.

            “So what?” Her small nose lifted, and he frowned slightly at her aggressive tone. They glared at each other across the table. “So now you’re picking on my eating habits?”

            “Well, maybe if you didn’t eat like it’s going out of style,” he shot back. “Every time I see you, you’re stuffing your face, or throwing something at me. Test papers … shoes … doughnuts … And, by the way, you’re a lousy shot.”

            She sniffed. “Maybe, but I’m getting better. The way you keep insulting me, I get a lot of practice. The first time I ran into you, you laughed at my maths test …”

            “That was the second time,” he corrected her.

            “… and you called me meatball-head,” she flung his words back at him, a slight quiver in her voice. “And you said I was a dangerous road hazard who shouldn’t be allowed out without an armed escort.”

            “Ah …”

            “And what about that time you called me a piglet?”

            “I didn’t …”

            “And how you said that any guy would have to be a complete loser to fall for me?”

Darien winced, running one hand through his hair. She’d remembered it all, word for word, every exchange of insults. Had it mattered that much to her?

            “You don’t think I meant it, do you?” he said incredulously. “Come on, Serena. You’re just too easy to tease. I was only …” his voice trailed away as Serena’s bottom lip started to tremble a little.

            “I was only teasing,” he said lamely.

            “Yeah, right,” she muttered, sinking lower in her seat until her chin rested on her arms. “It’s not as if I don’t know I’m not pretty and smart and everything, like Raye …”

            Darien had a strange sense of dislocation. What did she mean, she wasn’t pretty or smart? Didn’t she have any idea what she could do to someone just by looking at him with those big blue eyes of hers? What any guy alive would do just to see her smile? She couldn’t seriously have thought that he meant it.

            “… Okay, so I don’t always turn up on time, and I don’t get great test marks, and I’ve never had a boyfriend …”

            “You aren’t dating anyone?” Darien broke in, one eyebrow shooting up. “You’re kidding, right?”

            She gave him a black look. “Well, it’s true, okay? You don’t have to rub it in.”

            “I just can’t believe you don’t have a boyfriend,” he said, wondering why he suddenly felt so ridiculously pleased. So she wasn’t dating the dweeb with the coke-bottle glasses after all.

            “Laugh it up, mister,” Serena advised him darkly. “At least I have friends …” And she sat bolt upright with a small gasp. “Molly!”

            Serena started to scramble through the paper napkins and glasses, peering under the table. Darien watched in some bemusement as she fished up the cute little pink handbag with a triumphant gesture that nearly knocked the salt off the table.

            “So you’re really going to go ahead with it,” he said.

            “With what?”

            “With spilling the dirt on this guy. You know she won’t thank you for it,” Darien pointed out, and Serena gave a small, unhappy sigh.

            “I know, but I have to stop her from getting hurt,” she said dismally. “Molly’s my friend.”

            _As if that were the only explanation she needed_.

            “Even if she hates you for it?” Darien prodded, and Serena clutched a hand to her stomach. She suddenly wasn’t looking well.

            “You’re not helping,” she complained. “I’ve already got enough butterflies and crawly things in my stomach. I’m not real good at this sort of stuff. I hate people getting angry at me.”

            She slid out of the booth, tugging her handbag with her, as Darien stood quickly and caught at her wrist.

            “Hey, Serena.”

            She turned, her eyes wide with surprise. Between his long fingers, her wrist felt small and fragile.

            “It’ll be okay,” he said gently.

            Serena’s eyes stared up into his in frozen astonishment. And then a glorious smile dawned across her face, bright as sunrise in a summer sky, and for once Serena was smiling that incredible smile at him, and it almost drove him to his knees. He suddenly felt oddly breathless.

            “Thank you,” she said gratefully.

            He caught a faint breath of perfume … roses and soap …

            And she was gone.

            His hand closed on air, still feeling the warmth of her pulse against his fingers, as he stared after her. There was more to that girl than met the eye, he was beginning to realise, and a faint frown creased between his eyes as he considered the thought. He didn’t know if he liked what she did to him, the way she could make him want to shake her, and laugh, and act like a preadolescent kid, just trying to get her to notice him.

            She could light up the air with her vivid presence.

            Without realising what he was doing, he found himself following her. Just to make sure she was alright, he told himself. She’d been upset about her friend. She was prone to accidents when she was upset.

            Darien slowed, and stopped, leaning against the wall. Up ahead, Serena was staring up at a second storey window above the shop front, her face screwed up with concentration, and Darien could see her clenching and unclenching her hands, rubbing her palms on her short blue skirt.

            Suddenly she drew a deep breath and bolted through the door beside the shop. As she disappeared, Darien blinked. What on earth was he doing there?

            He couldn’t seriously be following a girl he hardly knew … a junior high school girl at that. They had a name for things like that.

            Darien leaned against the window of a shop, rows of cakes and chocolates bright behind him, as people pushed past on the pavement. His head tilted back against the glass. A jewellery shop sign swung and creaked beside the door that Serena had pushed open, and Darien stared at it idly, making out the gold scrolled letters.

            Above the black and gold sign was the window Serena had watched, and Darien’s eyes narrowed as the curtains twitched. Someone pushed them back sharply and stared out across the street, making an abrupt gesture as the sunlight caught briefly on dark red hair. The last time he’d seen this girl had been at the mall, her adoring face watching Nephrite’s every move just before he’d drained her dry, and suddenly Darien felt a little sick.

            _Bad news, huh?_ Darien shook his head slightly. _Serena, you have no idea just how bad._

            And there was Serena herself, bounding out the door. He quickly turned and walked away before she could see him.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

 

How many lonely days and nights?

How many lies, how many fights?

And why would you want to

Put yourself through all of that again?

                                                                                                [Sting]

 

            For two weeks he waited for the dream summons to come again. Two weeks of waiting and wondering when it would come, until he found himself staring up at the dark patterns on his bedroom ceiling, the sounds of cars rising from the night below. But sleep wasn’t happening, and the dreams had deserted him.

            Had he done something wrong? Unseeing, he stared into the shadows, the sheets hot and damp where they had twisted under him. His princess had asked him to protect Sailor Moon, but remembering the way she had handled herself, Darien wasn’t so sure that she needed protecting.

            _And where does that leave me?_

            He rolled to one side, one arm hanging awkwardly over the edge of his bed. Somehow he just couldn’t get comfortable.

            _How can I find the Crystal, without Sailor Moon?_

            Darien sat up abruptly, forcing his hands through his hair. Without turning the lights on, he moved through his apartment until he stood at the window, leaning one bare shoulder on the cool glass, staring out over the city. Looking out over the field of brilliant lights that stretched far beyond the horizon usually balanced him, but tonight he felt more unsettled than ever.

            In between the darkness and the light, as his mind drifted, he had a disturbing vision of a certain blonde getting herself mixed up in things, if she wasn’t careful. Her friend was involved with a general of the Negaverse, and although Serena knew he was bad news, she couldn’t have any idea just how dangerous he could be.

            And without the summons, he couldn’t put Nephrite down for good.

            Darien turned his back on the night sky outside his window, reaching out to close one hand around the music box on the shelf beside him. Its familiar small weight against his palm helped, but as he flicked it open, the tinkly little tune sounded odd in the dark, silent apartment.

            “Come on,” he breathed into the still and heavy darkness. But nothing happened, except that he finally fell asleep, deep and dreamless, slumped uncomfortably against the window with the music box clutched tightly in one hand, just as dawn was breaking and swallowing up the neon lights. He slept through the morning, until a car backfired in the streets below and woke him with a start.

            At the sudden noise, Darien’s eyes flew open and he rolled into a defensive stand without pausing to think, feeling just a little foolish as he came awake properly. As he straightened out the kinks and stretched, flexing his fingers where they were still gripped too tightly around the music box, he felt a sudden, familiar pull and his heartbeat began to race.

            Darkness spun around him and he fell, throwing himself into the dreams with unwonted fervour as they reached up to take him. The inky shadows raced along his skin like fire, whirling around him and flaring into black satin. He opened his midnight eyes behind a white mask.

            And the dreams and shadows melted like snow as Darien fell into the sunlight, surrounded by the cool, bright gold of early autumn leaves that crunched slightly under his boots and drifted on the breeze over the low iron fence that ran around a tiny Christian cemetery to settle against the grey stone monuments.

            In the middle of all that gold and gentle grey, the winged vulture monster, like a hideous caricature of the stone angels, was a strange and garish sight. It raised its fists high over its head, heavy in boxing gloves, and brought them together with a crash that shook the earth under its feet, and that was Darien’s first hint that something was different, and something was badly wrong.

            The flash of bright gold as Sailor Moon pelted towards the vulture was his second hint. She was running straight at it, then she screamed a name, and fell, and before Darien could even move, a girl – _Serena’s redhead friend. What was she doing here? -_ flung herself between the fallen Sailor Moon and the vicious creature looming over them both, her dark red hair sticking to her face in sweaty patches as she stared the demon down. The creature mantled, its wings shaking and unfurling furiously. In its parody of a boxer’s costume, it slapped heavy boxing gloves together again.

            It struck, one glove shooting out to catch the redhead. The girl went flying. Darien was moving, fast, as the demon turned on Sailor Moon again.

            There was an unexpected flash of emerald, and Darien almost lost his balance in surprise. He watched the tall girl in the green Sailor Scout costume fling herself into the fray with an almost frightening verve, a savage grin on her face.

            “And then there were four,” he muttered.

            Was everyone in Azabu-Juban a Sailor Scout? How many schoolgirl superheroes could there be? For an instant, he wondered who these girls really were, underneath the magical glamour that concealed them.

            And that was when he realised that there were two figures missing from this battle. Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury weren’t there. They should have been here by now, and Darien was startled by the sudden, cold fury that flashed through him.

_Was this why her fear pulled me through the dreams again?_ he wondered grimly. _Because her friends had abandoned her? But they know how dangerous it is …_ Darien forced his hands to unclench, drawing in a slow, steady breath. There would be time to hunt down Mars and Mercury after this vulture demon had been dealt with, and wring their necks.

            At least the green Scout could hold her own, he conceded briefly. Then things went haywire, and Darien forgot everything else as he threw himself out of the cool shadows into battle. Instinctively, he stalked around the monster, keeping himself between it and Sailor Moon. It would have to go through him to get to her.

            Behind him, he could sense Sailor Moon as she tensed and straightened. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her draw a sparkly little wand out of the air. That was new. Where had the wand come from? It looked like a few things had happened since the last time he had fought at her side.

            “Moon …” She had it now. The monster was pinned, and Sailor Moon had a strange, fierce look in her eyes. “Healing … Escalation!”

            Darien watched in awe as Sailor Moon poured moonfire and power through the wand, clutching the wand with a two-handed grip that looked as though she was fighting to hold on to it. The creature shrieked and stretched its arms out despairingly, and melted, and collapsed in on itself.

            As the man that had been a monster folded to the ground, Darien caught a flash of light as something fell. Instinctively, he leaped for it, but someone else was there too, and Darien found himself kneeling beside an amber crystal, sparkling in the dust, with a woman in the severe grey uniform of the Negaverse crouched in front of him. She looked up, wheat-fair hair spilling around a face that sharpened with a feral little smile.

            “Mine,” she said, and reached for the crystal.

            “I think not,” Darien snarled, and snatched the crystal up from under her hand, leaping backwards as she came after him with a furious cry. He brought up one arm protectively, dodging the savage attack, and the dream snatched him up just in time.

            As he fell into the shadows, his hand closed tightly around the crystal and he felt a fierce stab of elation.

            _This is it_.

            “The key to the Silver Crystal,” he breathed.

 

            _Even in the darkness he could feel the brilliant warmth of his princess’ smile._

_“The rainbow crystal,” she breathed, and he could hear a note of profound joy and relief in her soft voice. “Oh, my darling. You have done it. I knew you would find the way.”_

_She grew serious. “And now I can tell you. There are seven crystals – rainbow crystals – that are fragments of the Silver Crystal. The Negaverse has sent another warrior to gather them all, and she already has one in her grasp.”_

_“Zoicite,” Darien said harshly. “The third general, Zoicite.”_

_“And she will fight you with all her strength,” his princess confirmed. “Zoicite is strong in her fierce obsession and her unpredictability, and she will not be easy to defeat. But she must not win the seven crystals, or everything will be lost. And until they are brought together, I cannot be free.”_

_“Then I’ll find them,” he said resolutely._

_She reached out to touch his face with one hand. “I know you will.” She began to fade._

_“I have faith in you, love.”_

            Darien opened his eyes and stared at his bedroom ceiling, unable to suppress the bubble of joy he felt welling up inside him. He laughed out loud, reaching up with one hand as if he could touch the ceiling. In the sunlight pouring through his bedroom window the crystal in his hand sparkled and threw out amber rainbows as he held it up. For the first time in ten years, he felt as if there might actually be hope.

            And that was when he realised that something was missing.

            Darien sat up abruptly, patting the bedcovers, running his hands over his pyjama pants as if it would make the tiny music box reappear. He pushed himself to his feet and almost ran to the living room, the carpet soft under his bare feet. With a sense of disbelief he stared at the empty space on his bookcase.

            Unconsciously, he stared at the crystal, sitting in the hand where he’d gripped the music box when he’d been pulled into the dreams.

            _Damn!_ he swore at himself, and ran his hand through his hair. He’d lost it. He must have dropped it, somewhere out there in Azabu-Juban, while he was flitting around as Tuxedo Mask.

            _Just perfect._


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

 

Only pin-up posters

Looking down at me

                                                                                [Pal Waaktaar]

 

            Every time he glanced at the empty space on his bookcase, he felt that awful gap in his mind again, like poking at a sore tooth. The music box was the closest thing he had had to a memory of his childhood, something that almost made him remember … almost …

And beside the small square space, the unfamiliar faces of the man and woman who were supposed to be his parents seemed to look at him reproachfully from their silver frame. Darien turned his back and left the empty apartment behind.

            Outside, in the sunshine, he wandered aimlessly, letting people push past him as he left the streets lined with houses and apartment buildings and found himself drifting past shops and restaurants and noisy crowds of people.

            _I have the crystal_ , he reminded himself, shoving his hands into his pockets. _I won’t need the music box soon._ The thought only helped a little. He still felt curiously bereft.

            As he wandered past an art gallery, his head turned to stare at a painting hanging in the long window. He stopped for a moment, frowning at it. The oddly luminescent painting was simple, a wilderness of marble columns under a field of stars with a figure in an ivory gown in the distance, and looking at the painting he thought a vague memory stirred of a time when … a time when … It slipped away, and Darien forced his hands to unclench.

            Everywhere he looked seemed to be another reminder of the gaps in his memory, and even random paintings in an obscure gallery window now seemed to be teasing at the gaps in his mind. Before he could give in to the temptation to hit something, he turned on his heel, and walked straight into someone coming out of the gallery. He caught at the young woman as she fell, scrabbling across the pavement for her glasses.

            "Oh, man," he sighed. "I'm really sorry." _I'm getting worse than Serena_.

            The woman pushed her glasses back on with both hands, looking up at him with a startled expression.

            "It's you," she gasped. Darien backed out of reach, feeling alarmed. "I don't believe this. It's you." She grabbed at his coat sleeve as if she was trying to stop him from vanishing into thin air.

            "You have to pose for me," she said breathlessly.

            "Pose for what?" Darien asked in alarm, trying to tug his coat free. "Is this some kind of joke?"

            "Oh ..." The woman looked down at her hand, as if realising what she was doing for the first time, and let go, blushing furiously. "My ... my name is ... well, I'm a local artist ..."

            "Aha!"

            Darien closed his eyes at the sound of Serena's triumphant voice. Just perfect.

            "I caught you in the act, Darien."

            "What's your particular problem today, meatball-head?" he sighed, his tone heavy with exasperation. "As if I don't have enough to deal with."

            "Raye's getting the buzz on this whole scenario," she said smugly, giving the strange woman a dark look, " 'cause I'm giving her the low-down on what a two-timing amoeba you are ... Hey!" Darien grinned as Serena turned a scowl on the woman tugging at her sleeve. "Let go!"

            "Sorry," the woman said apologetically. "Look, I know this sounds really strange, but I need your help. I need you to model for me."

            Darien watched Serena's eyes go wide.

            "Me?" she said breathlessly. "Model?!"

            "Both of you," the woman said. "My name's Peggy Jones. I'm a local artist, and I've been looking for the right models for weeks now. You two would be perfect."

            Serena was still staring into space, and Darien folded his arms across his chest.

            "What kind of modelling?" he asked suspiciously.

            "What kind ... Oh!" Peggy turned a brilliant red. "Oh, you think I'm ... that I ... Oh, no! All you'd have to do would be to sit while I do some sketches. That's all." She looked up at him beseechingly, while Serena slowly shook herself.

            "You really want me to model for you?" Serena asked, as if she still couldn't quite believe it, and Darien sighed. That girl was just too naive for her own good.

_And what do I seriously think is going to happen? Abduction? Pity the poor abductors._

            "Please?" Peggy was staring up at him, her brown eyes pitiful behind her glasses and her hands clasped anxiously. He sighed, and Peggy whipped out a piece of paper before he could say anything further, scribbling something on it with a stub of pencil she fished out of her pocket.

            "Here," she pushed the paper into his hand. "Both of you come to this address tomorrow. Three o'clock, okay? Thanks," she said with an enormous smile, and hurried away before either of them could respond. Darien and Serena looked at each other for a moment.

            "So ... do you really think she's serious?" Serena asked.

            Darien pushed his hair back off his face with his fingers. He shrugged. "Could just be some local nutcase. Are you seriously considering going?"

            "Why not?" Serena suddenly bounced on one foot. "Oh, wait 'til I tell Raye and Amy and Lita I'm going to be an artist's model."

            "Hey, wait a minute," Darien frowned. "You don't know anything about this woman. She could be a complete lunatic ... or into drugs ... or kidnapping ..." Serena was looking at him, one eyebrow raised, her hands on her hips.

            "Are you even listening to yourself?" She turned, grinning back at him over her shoulder. "See you at Peggy's place tomorrow, then," she called to him, and sprinted away down the footpath with her pigtails bouncing against her back.

            "Why do I let myself get talked into these things?" Darien muttered under his breath.

            He really had no intention of going along with it, and was still trying to talk himself out of it as he pushed the little white gate open the following afternoon. He had things to do, papers to write, so why was he standing outside the house of some strange woman he’d run into on the street?

            The small white and green house looked harmless, perfectly normal in the afternoon sunshine, and Serena probably wouldn’t need protecting from a dangerous lunatic. In Darien’s experience, dangerous lunatics didn’t tend to have garden gnomes under the azalea bushes, or cute little wind chimes in the trees.

            _It’s not like she’s going to come to any harm here,_ he told himself, pausing with one hand on the latch. He glanced around, running one hand through his hair. Someone obviously loved the garden, and in the autumn air he could smell the almost overpowering scent of alyssum, heavy with the sound of insects.

            "The bell won't ring itself," a smug voice said behind him, and he turned quickly as Serena reached past him to ring the doorbell. He bit his tongue on the automatic insult, trying to ignore her as she stuck out her tongue at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her cross her eyes, and in spite of himself, his mouth twitched.

            "Hah!" Serena pointed one slender finger at him triumphantly. "I saw that smile."

            And Peggy opened the door, her smile wide with relief. "Oh, good. You're right on time. Come in," she said a little breathlessly, and Darien followed Serena inside. She shot one wicked look at him over her shoulder, and then danced away as Peggy led them into the studio, bubbling over with excitement as she curiously peered at the easel, the canvases, the garden outside the window.

            She was flitting around like golden sunshine when Peggy gently pushed him into a couch and Darien came back to earth.

            "I really can't stay too long," he said abruptly. "I'm supposed to be meeting someone at the university."

            Peggy turned quickly, her face anxious. "Oh, don't go yet," she begged.

            "Aw, come on. It'll be fun." Serena swung around the back of the chair behind him, one gold pigtail spilling down his chest as she leaned forward. "Just like the days when you used to model," she taunted, her breath warm on his cheek. She danced away again.

            "Hey, Peggy," Serena called out. "These are really beautiful ... They look like the paintings at the gallery ... Peggy, are you related to Loni Lenai?"

            Darien jumped at the sudden crash from the kitchen, his own scattered thoughts hopelessly spinning as his hand went to his neck, rubbing at the persistent phantom touch of her hair ... Gods, what was wrong with him? She was just another irritating junior, with an irritating habit of getting under his skin. She shouldn't be able to do this to him.

            Peggy was bent over the shattered pieces of glass, her face flushed behind her large round glasses.

            " _You’re_ Loni Lenai?” Serena asked breathlessly, and Darien forced himself to focus as Peggy gave a nervous little shrug.

            “I started out using my own name, but I bombed. It just doesn’t sound exciting, does it? The ‘Peggy Jones Exhibition’ … it sounds more like Tupperware or soap powder. So I started using the name Loni Lenai, and I was a big hit. It would have been nice to make it under my own name, but what's more important is that I sell my work so that I can keep on painting.

            "Besides," she gave a small laugh, "I'm not glamorous enough." And Peggy became suddenly businesslike. "Now, I want you to sit here," she told Serena.

            Serena's squeak of outrage brought Darien back to his senses as Peggy put a cushion beside him for her to sit on.

            "No way! You expect me to sit next to _him_?"

            Darien frowned.

            "My thoughts exactly," he snapped. "Look, I've got to get going. This really isn't my thing."

            "Oh, no ... please don't go." Peggy grabbed his arm, her eyes beseeching as he tried to stand. She started talking quickly. "I've had this really great idea for a painting, but I need the right models, and now I've found you. Please stay just for a while so I can do the preliminary sketch. I draw really fast. I really do."

            He glanced at Serena's dubious expression, and for a brief moment their eyes met. Darien just knew he was going to regret this.

"Alright." He raked his hair back from his face with a sigh. "I'll stay."

            "Serena?" Peggy turned that wistful, hopeful look on Serena.

            "Sure. I guess ..." Serena said slowly. He caught her stealing a sidelong look at him as she perched reluctantly on the cushion beside him, and a funny expression flashed across her face. Something that was almost a smile, and not quite a grimace. He raised one eyebrow.

            "Is there a problem?" he asked dryly.

            "Quiet," she said imperiously. "I'm posing."

            Serena folded her hands demurely, ankles decorously crossed, and shot him a mischievous little look. Darien resisted the impulse to reach out and tug her pigtail, and watched as she turned her blue eyes upwards with an innocently angelic expression.

            "You're not fooling me," he whispered from the corner of his mouth. She turned those eyes on him, wide with innocence. "With those big blue eyes ... what are you up to?"

            "I don't know what you mean," she hissed back, her voice injured, but he caught the flicker of dimples. Serena was looking up at him with laughter in her eyes, her head tilted curiously. Lord, did she have any idea how beautiful she was?

            "Good. That's good," muttered Peggy, and Darien started. "Keep looking at each other like that."

            Darien broke the gaze, as Serena turned pink, and they both looked away.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

 

You’re not the easiest person I ever got to know

And it’s hard for us both to let our feelings show

Some would say I should let you go your way

You’ll only make me cry

[Sting]

 

            "Nearly finished ..." Peggy muttered vaguely as she frowned in concentration

            "Can I peek?" Serena asked curiously. She grabbed a handful of cookies from the plate Peggy had left for them, dancing around to stare at the sketches in progress.

            "Could she stop you?" Darien muttered under his breath, a wry smile twisting at his mouth in spite of himself. She looked up at him over Peggy's shoulder, rolling her eyes, and Darien surprised them both by pulling an undignified face at her. He grinned as Serena clapped one hand to her mouth to smother the giggles, then she looked more closely at the sketch.

            "Hey, that's really beautiful," she breathed.

            "You surprise me, meatball-head," Darien teased. "You actually sat through the whole session without doing something stupid."

            She stuck out her tongue, wrinkling her nose at him. "Dweeb."

            His eyes followed without thinking as Serena wandered aimlessly around the studio for a moment.

            "You're so lucky to be able to paint," she said idly, tilting her head to look at one half-finished painting propped against the wall. "Everyone I know is really talented. Amy’s a genius, and Raye’s got a beautiful voice … when she’s not yelling. And Lita can cook like you wouldn’t believe …”

            Darien frowned, trying to visualise Serena’s little band of friends. “Which one’s Lita?”

            “… and you paint,” Serena ignored him, still staring at Peggy’s painting. “I can't even draw stick figures that well. But I think that it's terrible that you can't use your own name on your paintings."

            "It's not that important," Peggy told her, "as long as they like what I'm doing. But you probably wouldn't understand. You're smart, and pretty ..."

            If Darien hadn't been watching her face, he would have missed the expression that flickered there for a moment, half hopeful, half incredulous. What was wrong with the guys of Azabu-Juban that she didn’t know just how incredible she was? Or what she could do with those eyes and that smile …

            "... You have everything," Peggy told her.

            "I do?" The question was barely audible.

            "Except coordination," Darien said. He lifted his teacup, swallowing a mouthful of cold tea as he tried not to pull a face, and refused to meet Serena's eyes. He wasn't going to give her another opportunity to get under his skin - that way lay madness.

            "But Peggy's got the right idea. The less people know about you, the harder it is for them to hurt you," he said casually, the words a warning to himself. "Popularity and romance are way overrated."

            "What would you know, Darien? With a minus zero personality like that, you probably don't even know what romance is." He looked up quickly as Serena danced back into view and thrust a painting under his nose.

            "Take a look, Mister Minus-Zero, and tell me a romantic painting like this doesn't do something to you."

            Darien glanced at the painting, and barely suppressed the sound that rose in his throat. It could have been his princess, beautiful and pristine in the painted moonlight, her face hidden in the shadows. And cradled in her hand … a golden music box. He set the teacup down with a clatter.

            "This is one of my favourites ..." Peggy was saying, and Darien closed his eyes, breathing slowly. It was just a coincidence, that was all.

            He fought against the dreams that night, tried to fight sleep as it overwhelmed him.

                                                                                       

_And as she stepped out of the moonlit darkness, her hand lifting to brush his face, he fought not to flinch away from her touch._

_He found himself imagining he saw summer blue eyes in a skitter of moonlight, bright with mischief, hallucinating hints of long, dark lashes, a glorious, familiar smile. His nails dug into his hands, cutting the flesh, and Darien focused grimly on the sharp pain. He felt his sanity slipping through his fingers as he closed his eyes, his princess' slender hand curved lovingly against his cold cheek._

_"Everything will be alright," she whispered softly._

_And in the emptiness of his dreams, the thought whispered silently ..._ But you're not real ...

_That thought was a betrayal. Darien's fingernails bit deeper into his palms, his eyes squeezed shut until starbursts flowered against the darkness behind his eyes. He revolted against the errant thought that teased at him._ None of this is real _, something taunted._ Your whole life is a dream _... and it was with something that was almost relief that he felt the inexorable pull that wrenched him out of his princess' dream…_

            Into the brilliant neon sky above Tokyo. A chill night wind pulled at his cape as he leaned out over the void between the blank glass towers, one gloved hand tensing on the grey railing. Far below, Sailor Moon was battling a winged demon-warrior, but his head snapped sideways to stare at the dark shadows where the crystal in Zoicite's hand glowed softly.

            He had to take that crystal to prove in deed what he had involuntarily ... unforgivably ... betrayed in thought, but he hesitated, a moment too long, as Sailor Moon shrieked in terror. With a silent curse, he flung himself over the edge and swooped down on Sailor Moon, dragging her out of the way.

            But that moment's weakness was enough, and he swore as he turned, sensing Zoicite was gone, with the crystal. In that moment, he almost hated Sailor Moon for keeping him from taking the crystal back from Zoicite. He had to have that crystal. A coldness filled Darien's midnight eyes.

            "Zoicite's got that crystal. I've got to catch her," he hissed, and thrust a bewildered Sailor Moon out of the way savagely as he flung himself in pursuit, not letting himself think about her facing the demon alone, without him.

            He had to get that crystal back. His princess needed the crystals to be free, and he was his princess' sworn knight, devoted to her ... living only for her ...

            "Nothing else matters." He breathed the lie into the wind, and paced Zoicite deliberately, his eyes fixed on the witch as she leaped across the rooftops. He followed. Far above the city, Zoicite stopped to glance down into the streets below, flicking the crystal into the air and catching it with a triumphant gesture. She laughed, and Darien flowed out of the shadows, dark and dangerous, as Zoicite whirled around.

            "You!" she hissed.

            "I want that crystal."

            "Tough," she told him, her smile glittering and manic. "You're history!"

            And Darien flinched in the sudden blizzard of acid cherry blossom, spinning his cape protectively across his face.

            A familiar voice screamed, "Moon Tiara Magic!" and Darien heard Zoicite's shriek of fury, the clatter of something falling and he looked up as Zoicite dissolved into the air.

            "Sailor Moon?" She was bent over a wicked-looking shard on the rooftop, and lifted her head quickly. "Ah. So Zoicite thought she'd finish me here and now, did she," he added, staring at the shard expressionlessly.

            "Are you alright?" Sailor Moon asked.

            "Yes, thanks to you," he admitted, and she straightened abruptly, dropping something. She flushed, and their fingers met as they both reached for the golden bauble fallen between them. Sailor Moon flinched, pulling her hand back.

            "Do you want it back?" she asked softly. Darien looked down at the golden music box under his hand. _So this was where it was._ He should have known she’d find it – without meaning to, she seemed to be going out of her way to snarl up any hope of finding his princess and his lost life.

            "You dropped it in a fight. It must mean a lot to you."

            "Keep it," he said coldly. It was just one more thing to remind him of the holes in his life. "I'd probably just lose it again."

            "Are you sure? It's lovely ..." Sailor Moon looked down at the tiny gold box he dropped into her hands, and looked back up at him with something in her eyes that he didn't want to see.

            "There's something else you could give me," she said hesitantly. "That rainbow crystal you kept ... would you give that to me?"

            And she shrank back at the furiously chill expression in his eyes.

            "These crystals are my only goal." He was ice all through. Saving her had cost him the crystal Zoicite had escaped with tonight. "Nothing else matters. I'm not letting you or anyone else stand in my way."

            As he turned, he glanced back over his shoulder at the slender figure, frozen and miserable under his attack.

            "And now Zoicite has two crystals, thanks to you. I want the crystal you've got," he told her bleakly," and I'll do whatever it takes to get it."

            "But I thought your mission was to help the Scouts," Sailor Moon cried, finally stung into speech, and Darien turned on her, hating himself and furious with her for letting another crystal slip through her fingers.

            "I only help you because it keeps the Negaverse from winning," he hissed, and spun away in a fury of dark satin. The city fell away as he flung himself against the night sky in a torment of savage anguish. If only he hadn't hesitated ... If only Sailor Moon hadn't let Zoicite get the crystal ... if only …

_She saved your life_.

            Darien threw himself dizzily over the edge of a building, dropping away into the mire of the street below, landing with a jarring thud and his hands pressed to the concrete under him. He knelt there, hair falling across his face as he tried to breath against the shattering gasps that forced their way through him.

            What was wrong with him?


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

 

I guess I always hoped that you’d end this reign

But it’s my destiny to be the king of pain

                                                                                                [Sting]

                                                                       

            With some difficulty he eventually pushed himself to his feet, pressing against his aching eyes with one arm and looking around with an empty expression at the familiar world. He laughed, a little hysterically, and felt the dream pull at him again

 

_And he stood once more, unsteadily, tattered and torn, before the misty form of the princess in the starlit darkness._

_“Zoicite has two crystals," he whispered, and fell to his knees. "I lost."_

_"And you have one crystal already," she said softly. "There will be other chances. Oh, love, have you so little faith in yourself?"_

_He looked up desperately at that. "How can you say that? I've failed you."_

_A finger touched his lips._

_"Have faith." He thought he saw a smile in the darkness. "Have an icecream, and you'll feel much better."_

 

_'Have an icecream'?_ Darien sat bolt upright in bed, and covered his face with shaking fingers that pushed damp hair back from his white face. _Now I know I'm out of my mind._

            He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and shoved the quilt to one side.

            _Dreams_ , he thought savagely. _That's all they are_. And he took perverse pleasure in the thought for a moment. _They're not real._

            Unbidden, a sly little voice at the back of his mind whispered _She's not real_ , but Darien pushed the idea away abruptly before he was even aware that he’d thought it.

            He flexed his bruised arm, wincing as he touched a red welt running down his bicep. _For dreams, they pack a solid punch_. He flinched again as he dragged his sweat-soaked pyjama top over his head, brushing against another barely healed scar.

            Through force of habit, he staggered slowly into the bathroom. Get up, shower, eat something ... could have been anything ... go out. Go anywhere. Don't think.

            The day was bright, and the sunlight felt like pain on his skin as he stepped out into the street, shivering a little in spite of the warmth. He pushed his hands into his pockets, staring blindly at the concrete under his feet as he walked. Without thinking, he came to a stop in the middle of the footpath, his eyes tense with pain.

            “Hey, watch it!” someone said in irritation, stepping around him, and Darien looked up in dull surprise.

            It occurred to him that he had missed most of the day’s lectures, something he had never done before. He squinted up into the sun. All that was left was to go and find some coffee and pretend that last night hadn’t happened.

_Caffeine. That’s all I need._

            It was only by instinct, because his mind sure wasn’t functioning, that he found his way into the coffee shop, and he sat slumped in a booth, staring out the window with his coffee growing cold as one hand crept up to touch a phantom tickle against his neck.

            Right about now, blondie would be pelting out of the school gates. She ought to be sprinting through the sidestreets, apologising to someone she’d just managed to bowl over.

            Darien’s hand curled around the coffee mug in front of him. And now she’d be skidding through the doors at the arcade with that bright little wave and smile for Andrew.

            He wouldn’t admit what he was looking for … hoping for … until he caught sight of those familiar blonde pigtails running past the window and felt the nervous little twist in the pit of his stomach.

            Darien almost knocked over his half-full coffee, pushing too much money at the startled waitress as he stumbled to his feet, reaching for the door. There she was, halfway down the block with her gold hair flying. She always seemed to be running somewhere, and Darien gave an involuntary grin, even though the expression hurt. It would explain how she could eat so much without all those doughnuts showing. He broke into a jog.

            Darien caught up with her at the corner, his hand on her arm, and he caught at Serena as her feet skidded out from under her. She looked up at him in surprise.

            "Darien? What are you doing here?" He took it as a good sign that she didn't sound unhappy to see him. Oddly, he felt a little better already. "I was just heading to Peggy's place."

            "Funny," he fibbed nonchalantly. "I was just on my way there myself."

            She raised an eyebrow. "You?" She looked at his curiously as he fell into step beside her. "But I thought you hated modelling."

            "Well, how often do you get the chance to see yourself immortalised by a famous artist," he said defensively.

            "Oh, I know." And Serena clasped her hands, sighing melodramatically. "Me, in a Loni Lenai painting ..."

            "So you fancy yourself as the princess ‘brighter than the sun and fairer than the moon’?" he quoted another story Peggy had told them while she was sketching, and he stole a glance at the girl beside him. "Nah," he said blandly. "You're more like a Munsch. You know, 'The Scream'?"

            And finally she did look at him, her face screwed up in a cute little pout. All of a sudden, she gave a small giggle.

            "What was that for?" he asked suspiciously.

            "Oh, nothing," Serena told him innocently. "I just don't think that even an artist like Peggy could turn you into the handsome prince of brave renown," she teased.

            Darien raised an eyebrow.

            "Just see if I save you from any dragons," he sniffed, and Serena giggled again, giving a little skip as she looked up at him with mischief in her eyes.

            "Prince Darien," she taunted, "riding to the rescue of damsels in distress? If you'd ever found Rapunzel, you probably would have picked on her hairstyle instead of rescuing her and living happily ever after."

            "Oh, so you want someone to climb your hair, do you?" He caught at one pigtail, and Serena squeaked, still laughing breathlessly.

            "Ow!"

            "Well, it's long enough," he said speculatively, silken hair trapped between his fingers. "What do you think? If you stand on that wall over there ..."

            "Darien!"

            "You wanted to be a fairytale princess," he said innocently.

            "And you are _not_ a romantic hero," Serena stated firmly, dragging her hair free. She combed her fingers quickly through the tangled curls, and Darien frowned, surprised to find that he felt a little hurt.

            "Who says I'm not romantic?"

            "Oh, come on. Mister Cynical himself?" Serena was looking up at him with one eyebrow lifted. "You told me yourself that romance is way overrated."

            "So?"

            "Well, you're not really the moonlight and roses type, are you?"

            Darien stopped walking. "You want roses?"

            Serena's smile faded as his voice turned serious. She was looking up at him with those big blue eyes of hers, and recklessly, out of the air between them, he pulled a crimson rose and presented it to her with a conjuror's flourish. Serena's eyes widened in delight as she reached out and gently touched it with one finger.

            "How did you do that?" she breathed.

            Darien felt his face grow warm. "It's just a trick I learned. I used to do a bit of conjuring, years ago," he prevaricated.

            "Magic tricks, modelling ... is there anything you haven't done?" Serena asked.

            He looked up at the sky, drawing a deep breath, trying to pretend that everything was normal as he raked his hair back from his face with his fingers.

            "Well, no, not really," he said lightly. "I guess I'm just perfect."

            And Serena looked up, startled, and broke into a peal of laughter. Heaven help him, but she was beautiful ... all warm sunshine and vivid, living spirit. And her bright silver laughter drew the answering smile that swept over him. For just one moment, they stood there, staring into each other's eyes.

            "You have the most incredible smile when you want to," she said vaguely, burying her nose in the petals of the rose he’d given her.

            She didn't even seem to realise what she'd said as she kept walking, didn't even realise how the world suddenly reeled dizzily under his feet as Darien stared down at the bright gold head in front of him, feeling his throat go dry.

            "Serena ..." his voice sounded strange in his ears, one hand lifting slightly towards her ...

            Serena stopped with a gasp. "Oh, no!" She flattened her hand against a window, trying to peer inside. "Peggy's paintings are gone."

            "Hunh?"

            "Peggy's exhibition!" Serena wailed, and Darien focused on the sign in the window. This was the gallery. There was a distinct absence of paintings on display and Serena was staring up at him in distress. He let out a breath slowly and ran his fingers through his hair.

_Saved_ , he thought grimly, realising how close he'd come to doing something stupid and impulsive.

            "Well, I suppose we should go in and find out what's going on," he suggested, and Serena perked up. With a brilliant smile, like sunshine after the rain, she grabbed him and towed him towards the door, reaching up to tuck the rose into her hair. Darien looked down at the small hand clutching his and sighed.

            "What's happening?" Serena was asking anxiously, and Darien became aware of Peggy, kneeling on the floor beside a pile of canvases, smiling up at Serena as she wiped at a smudge of paint on her nose with the back of one hand.

            "We saw this place was closed," he explained. "What's going on?"

            "Well, the exhibit's closed for today," Peggy was saying cheerfully, "and I've taken everything down because I wanted to move things around. I've got some new paintings I wanted to add."

            And Peggy scrambled to her feet, holding up a new canvas a little shyly.

            "Peggy!" Serena gasped. "When did you do this?"

            Serena took the canvas, tilting it to the light, and Darien could see it was a self-portrait. Plain, perhaps, and unglamorous, but with a spirit and fire in every line that was missing from the exquisite portrait of the fictional Loni Lenai negligently propped against the wall.

            "It was just after we had our little talk." Peggy smiled at Serena. "I decided that it was silly to go on pretending I was someone else."

            "Oh, Peggy. It's wonderful!"

            Past the portrait, Darien found himself staring at another painting, soft, dark colours melting into golden hair. His hand lifted to touch the girl's ivory face, shadowed by dark gold lashes and eyes like a summer sky ... his fingers were shaking.

            Damn, but Peggy was a talented artist. Every line and curve of Serena's face was there, the lurking smile ... and in the flowered shadows of the painting stood a dark figure, watching the girl with heartbreaking adoration in his eyes, and Darien's throat tightened.

            Was this what Peggy had seen when she painted him? Was it that obvious?

            "She got the meatballs right," Darien muttered. He looked up, twisting his mouth into a semblance of a smile. "Everyone's going to know it's you."

            Serena stuck out her tongue. "See if I sit next to you again," she threw back amiably.

            "Meatball-head," he responded lightly.

            "Dweeb."

            "Ditz."

            As if he hadn't just had his whole world turned upside down. His princess was a pale shadow to this golden girl's living spirit.

            "Arrogant creep." The golden girl currently had her eyes crossed at him, his bright crimson rose sliding rakishly over one eyebrow.

            Without another word, he beat a retreat to the door, refusing to turn and look at her again.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One**

 

After my picture fades

And darkness has turned to grey

You’re watching through windows

And wondering if I’m okay

                                                                                [Cyndi Lauper]

 

            "Jerk!" Serena called after him.

            "He's a nice boy," Peggy said diffidently as the door slid shut behind him, and Serena wrenched her gaze back.

            "Hunh?" she said vaguely.

            "Darien's a very nice boy. And he's fond of you."

            "Who, Darien?" Serena's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "No way. Honestly, Peggy, he never lets up with the insults. You should hear some of the names he calls me."

            She noticed Peggy's tiny smile, and scowled.

            "He's a creep," she said comprehensively. _Except when he smiles_ ... She shook herself furiously as one hand lifted unconsciously to touch the rose caught in her hair, pushing away the thought of those few moments outside the gallery when he had been almost human...

            "Hmh," Peggy said absently. She was staring at the painting again, her head cocked to one side. "Still ... you two were great models. It's all in the eyes ..." She sighed, reaching out to rub away a small smudge of dust from the frame. "The perfect fairytale love."

            Serena's eyes widened. For a second, she couldn’t find her voice.

            "What?" she whispered.

            "Just look at the painting if you don't believe me," Peggy repeated. "And you like him, don't you."

            Serena felt herself turn a little light-headed.

            "No way," she breathed, and gave her head an emphatic shake to clear it.

            "Way," Peggy said gently. She pushed Serena towards the door, locking it behind them, and gave her a quirky little smile as she absently felt through her pockets for the key, found it still in the door and tugged it free.

            "Mortal enemies who fall hopelessly in love ... Now there's a romantic idea for a painting," Peggy said thoughtfully, walking away.

            Serena stood there, her voice ... all coherent thought ... scattered. She screwed her nose up in a sudden scowl.

            "I do not … _like_ … that jerk!" she yelled after Peggy.

            Since the first time they’d met, she and Darien had been sniping at each other, so where, Serena wondered mutinously, had Peggy gotten the bizarre idea that there was something going on between them?

            In her room, as the evening sky darkened, she found herself staring at Darien’s rose lying across the books spread out on the desk in front of her with a small frown between her eyes, and her homework forgotten as she leaned her chin in her hands. Behind it, the lamplight shone golden on a tiny music box. Serena reached out to lift the lid absently. The box chimed a pretty little melody, and Serena went back to staring into space.

            As her fingers tugged gently at the dark leaves of the rose, her chin sank lower into her arms. And she had told him he had a nice smile.

            "I can't believe I said that." Serena buried her head in her arms with a faint wail. "Raye's going to kill me."

            Between her fingers she could still see the crimson rose. So maybe she could understand why Raye fell for him after all, if he'd smiled at her like that.

            "I don't even like him," she whispered to the rose. "And anyway, he's Raye's boyfriend."

            She reached out and touched the rose with one finger.

            "And even if he wasn't," she sat up a little straighter, grimacing, "He's still a low-life, smug creep. Ha!"

            Having settled that, Serena purposefully picked up her pen. She frowned, idly tracing patterns across her maths book, and slowly sank until her chin was resting on her forearms again. The music box chimed its song, and Serena closed her eyes. Why did everything have to be so difficult?

            Against the darkness behind her eyes, she could see Tuxedo Mask, mysterious and brilliant, with those midnight eyes behind his mask, and the chill in those eyes when he’d turned on her. Without looking, she reached out and silenced the music box.

            "I really thought he cared," she mumbled into her arms. "All those times he helped me, and it was just to get at the crystals."

Serena's lip trembled a little and she buried her face deeper in her hands. Between her fingers she could see Darien's rose, warm and velvety in the pool of light from her desk lamp. She sighed, touching the edge of one petal with her fingertip.

            "He's so cold ... like Darien ..."

            Serena's head lifted swiftly at a sudden thought, then she gave a nervous little giggle. "As if!"

            "Daydreaming again?" Luna's disapproving voice wafted through her consciousness. "Still mooning over Tuxedo Mask?"

            And Serena sat up with a jerk, sweeping the rose into her lap, her face turning pink.

            "I was ... studying ..."

            "Oh, really?" Luna gave her a flat stare. "Then let's see what you've done so far."

            "No!" Serena squeaked. "It's ... ah ... really complicated, and I wouldn't want you to see it until ... until I've tidied it up a bit. And divided things. And ruled up the margins ..."

            "You haven't done a thing, have you?"

            Serena hung her head.

            "All this time you've been sitting here," Luna sighed, "and I suppose you haven't even finished the first question."

            "I was going to," Serena said plaintively. "It's just not that easy."

            "How would you know if you don't even try?" Luna asked in exasperation. "Honestly, Serena. I despair of you sometimes."

            “I’ve had other things to think about.”

            “Like Tuxedo Mask? Serena, you really shouldn’t be focusing so much time and attention on him. We still don’t know anything concrete about him.”

            “I thought you wanted me to take things more seriously.”

            “Important things!” Luna lashed her tail. “Things like your mission to fight the Negaverse, and your schoolwork. Not some silly crush.”

            “But this is important,” Serena pouted, and sniffed back the sudden tears that threatened to spill over. “Not that it matters, anyway. He just wants the crystals, and he’s only been protecting me because he thinks that I can help him get them.”

            Luna’s tail stopped lashing, and the cat jumped up onto the desk, nudging Serena’s arm with her nose.

            “Oh, Serena …”

            Serena sighed heavily. “Is love always this complicated?”

            “Sometimes it’s worse,” Luna said gently.

            “ ‘Cause I don’t know why Lita keeps falling in love all the time, if it’s like this. At least when I liked Andrew, I knew he probably wasn’t going to turn out to be a Negaverse demon, and, okay, so I was just a kid to him, but he really did like me.” In her lap, the petals of the rose were soft against her fingers. “It’s all too confusing.”

            As she threw herself into bed, she felt Luna curl up, warm and comforting, beside her. Serena stared up into the darkness, and finally drifted into restless dreams of masks and roses and a fairytale prince who wouldn’t rescue the princess because she had a hairstyle like a doughnut.

            Just as the princess was trying to strangle the prince with her own hair, Serena felt a cold damp nose in her ear and shot upright with a small scream. Luna tumbled backwards off the bed as Serena blinked in the morning light filtering through the curtains.

            “It can’t be morning already,” she complained. Luna shook her fur, and glared up at the young girl.

            “I’ve been trying to wake you up for fifteen minutes now, and if you don’t hurry, you’re going to be late.”

            Serena rubbed her eyes and groaned. She opened them slowly, wincing, and closed them again, falling back into the pillows as she caught sight of Darien’s rose on her desk.

            “I’m not feeling well,” she mumbled into the pillows as Luna nudged her again. “I think I’ve got a fever, and my throat’s sore. I can’t go to school today.”

            In spite of it all, she found herself at school, dragging her feet through what must have been the longest day she’d ever suffered. Even the thought of icecream and the new Sailor V game didn’t help – the arcade meant Darien, and a Darien encounter was the last thing she needed after the strange things that had happened last time.

            On the way home from school, Serena stopped outside the arcade, biting her lip. She should go in. She always went in after school, and she took a slow, reluctant step towards the door, staring blankly through the glass window as people pushed past her. Leaning closer, she pressed her nose against the glass and gave a faint sigh that might almost have been relief when she saw only Andrew at the counter. Idly, she traced the shape of a rose on the glass with one finger as she watched Andrew grin cheerfully and push a handful of change across the counter at someone.

            "Now, there's a guy who knows how to make a girl feel special," she muttered. Someone behind her gave a heavy sigh, and she turned quickly to stare in surprise at her friend standing behind her.

            "Lita?" Serena asked. The tall girl pouted miserably as she looked past Serena through the arcade window.

            Lita sighed again. "Except Andrew has a girlfriend," she said dolefully.

            "Hunh?"

            "Andrew has a girlfriend."

            "What?" Serena's voice rose in a faint wail. "How come he never told us?"

            Lita shrugged. "What do you care, anyway? I thought you liked Tuxedo Mask."

            "I ... do ..." _But he doesn't like me_. And Serena shook herself sharply. "But I liked Andrew first, and he's such a honey. I can't believe he never told me he had a girlfriend."

            She felt a hot wash of embarrassment flood through her, and a tiny hint of hurt and anger. Serena winced. Had they both been laughing at her all this time? And Darien had let her make an idiot of herself. He must have been laughing so hard over stupid little meatball-head and her hopeless crush.

            "... leaving," Lita was saying.

            "Hunh?"

            "Haven't you been listening to a word I was saying? It's not hopeless yet. I've still got a chance. Andrew's girlfriend's going to Africa, see? And he's pretty cut up about it. So they might break up, and then I'll be there to console him and steal his heart," Lita explained triumphantly.

            “And since when did you care whether Andrew has a girlfriend or not? I thought you were still hung up on that guy … what’s his name, Joe?”

            “Oh, that was last week,” Lita said, waving one hand dismissively. “Anyway, Andrew’s much more gorgeous, and he’s so sweet … he gave me a free game token, and was really nice about that chair that I broke …”

            Serena's blue eyes narrowed, decision made. No more tall, dark and cold-hearted jerks for her.

            "I liked him first" she challenged.

            "Oh, yeah?" Lita looked down at her with folded arms. "Well, I like him best."

            "Says who?" Serena retorted. "Anyway, Andrew's known me way longer than you, and he does too like me."

            “Well, we’ll just see.” Lita grinned. “And we won’t give up until one of us has won his heart.”

            “Yes!”


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

 

Sometimes I see your face

The stars seem to lose their place

Why must I think of you?

                                                                [Sting]

 

            "Darien Chiba?"

            Darien looked up quickly, and blinked. The lecture theatre was empty except for the professor, peering at him from under heavy black eyebrows.

            "Mr Chiba, might I have a word with you?" the professor asked blandly.

            Darien got to his feet stiffly, gathering his books together as Professor Okuda carefully unhooked his glasses and put them on the desk with a sigh.

            "Mr Chiba ..." Darien's jaw tensed. "I don't mean to alarm you," the man explained gently. "But I'll come straight to the point. Now, normally, you place at the top of your year, Mr Chiba. I'd go so far as to say that you have been one of the most intelligent and dedicated students it has ever been my privilege to teach. However," he tapped the pile of papers in front of him, "this paper was well below your usual standard, and I must say I was disappointed in your practise exam yesterday."

            He directed a look at Darien, who returned it impassively. Professor Okuda sighed again.

            "Now, don't worry. It's not enough to jeopardise the offers you're going to get after you graduate, but I am concerned that something is affecting you. Perhaps you have taken on too many extracurricular activities?" he suggested.

            "I'll handle it," Darien said quietly.

            "I'm sure you will, but ..."

            "Thank you for your concern, sir," Darien said formally, a note of finality in his voice. "It won't happen again."

            The man sighed, gave up, and dismissed him, and once the lecture theatre door closed behind him, Darien leaned against the wall with a faint breath, running one hand over his eyes. Between the screaming nightmares that made sleep hideous, and chasing around after Sailor Moon and the crystals ... He groaned. He was so tired, and his princess’ eyes haunted him every way he turned.

            He'd dealt with guilt, and nightmares, and exhaustion before, and still managed to pass with flying colours.

            No, what had him screwed was staring into space when he should be studying, daydreaming about a beautiful smile and that bright look in blue eyes that meant pure trouble. Gods help him, he was losing it over Serena Tsukino.

            How had she done it? Darien raked one hand through his hair, trying to understand how she could have turned everything upside down when his whole life had been focused on his princess, barely aware that anyone else existed.

            Serena was only fourteen, and seemed to have hardly two thoughts in her head, but behind those beautiful, ingenuous, blue eyes was someone who saw far more than anyone would suspect, and loved what she saw. That was her great gift.

            And every time they fought, every time he teased her and she yelled at him, he couldn't help feeling that maybe, just maybe, he could live without a past if she would look at him like that, just once.

            He hit the wall with one palm, hard enough to bruise.

            He refused to give up on his past, and on his princess, to chase an irritating, flaky, adorable _junior_ with a grudge against him. He had worked too hard for this, and his princess needed him.

            She would vanish if he didn't bring her the crystals. Darien would do whatever he had to do to save her. He would forget Serena ever existed, find the crystals and free his princess, and keep fighting monsters until one of them got him first. _Surely death couldn't hurt this much._

            Darien cocked his fist, and drove it against the hard wall as he tilted his head to stare blindly at the fluorescent lights overhead. His princess would never know that he had fallen in love with someone else, and he would save her if he died trying.

_Nothing else matters._

            People were starting to surge into the corridor, and Darien pushed himself away from the wall, forcing himself out into the painfully bright day until he found himself wandering familiar streets, turning to glance indifferently at his own flat reflection on the dark shop windows that gave way to a brief patch of green gardens. He pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket, and shivered a little in the warm sunshine, running his fingers through his hair. The gardens were full of school kids playing on the way home, and couples. His eyes turned bleak behind his sunglasses. There was nothing like being surrounded by happy, love-struck couples to really twist the knife in.

            And one of the couples was very familiar. Darien forced his mouth into a smile.

            "Hey there, lovebirds." He almost sounded cheerful.

            "Darien." Rita turned, her smile nearly as forced as his was. "You really shouldn't sneak up like that."

            She reached up to touch Andrew's face, her eyes unhappy and the smile on her face wobbling. Darien wondered briefly what could have gone wrong between them. Andrew looked like someone had just died.

            "I have to go," Rita told Andrew softly. "I'll call you when I get home." She walked away from him, her fingers reaching out to touch his until the last moment.

            Andrew followed Darien silently. His normally cheerful face was a study in misery as Darien stole a quick, curious glance at him, but Darien said nothing until they were sitting in their usual booth at the cafe.

            "What's wrong?" Darien asked. Andrew continued to stare at his hands on the table in front of him.

            "Rita got the promotion," he said without expression. "She's leaving for Africa."

            Darien winced. "That's tough. So I guess this means that you're breaking up."

            "No way." Andrew looked up quickly, his face suddenly bright with forlorn hope. "We can make this work somehow. Maybe I'll go to Africa and study entomology too."

            "But you hate bugs," Darien pointed out.

            "I think I could learn to like them, for Rita," Andrew sighed.

            "I thought you wanted to be a surgeon."

            "Not if it means losing Rita." Andrew sighed again, his brown eyes miserable as a wounded puppy. "Haven't you ever been totally gone on someone?" he asked woefully. Darien lifted an eyebrow, still staring into his coffee cup.

            "Me? Come on, get real."

            "Yeah, well, you meet this person who's totally special and everything clicks and you know this is forever."

            Darien felt his face become expressionless, that familiar tension spiking behind his eyes, as he laughed lightly.

            "Forever?" he said, keeping his voice sceptical in spite of the sudden impulse that drew his hand to the side of his neck with the phantom feel of Serena’s silken hair. Forever? He pushed aside the thought that only weeks ago his fantasies of forever had been spun around his princess.

            "You've got to be kidding me. I can barely stay interested for five minutes. No way."

            He closed his eyes. Andrew had no idea how lucky he was. Sure, Rita was leaving him to go to Africa, but at least he knew she was real and she loved him, and that she'd come back to him. He wasn't caught between feelings he didn't want to feel for a woman created out of wishful dreams and a girl who wouldn't look at him twice.

            "What about Serena's friend, Raye?" Andrew's voice broke in on his thoughts.

            "Nah," he said dismissively. "I know she's interested, but we've just hung out a few times," Darien told Andrew. Truth be told, he had difficulty thinking of her as anything but one of Serena's little group. Andrew was looking at him a little sceptically.

            "She told me you've been going to karate together."

            Darien returned his curious look blandly. If you counted Raye trailing along behind him in spite of his efforts to shake her off, then yes, they went to his karate practice together.

            "But you're right about the age thing," Andrew said. "Serena and her friends are kind of like little sisters."

            Darien's gaze dropped to stare into his coffee cup again, a tiny frown lurking between his eyes. He thought of Serena gazing wistfully at Andrew through the arcade windows

_How could he have possibly missed the look in those beautiful blue eyes? He has to know she has a crush on him_.

            Darien almost hated Andrew at that moment, and something must have shown in his expression, because Andrew was looking at him in concern.

            "Okay, confess," Andrew said, pointing his straw at him. "There is something going on, isn't there?"

            Darien tried to smile. "What makes you say that?"

            "And for a guy who says he can't stay interested in one woman for more than five minutes ..." Andrew ignored him, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling, twirling his straw between his fingers "Are you sure there's nothing going with Raye?"

            "Oh, get serious," Darien muttered. His eyes shifted to stare vacantly into the distance. "Raye just isn't my type."

            "Well, there is one other girl you've been seen with a lot lately," Andrew said slyly.

            Darien didn't even bother to look at Andrew, his face expressionless.

            "If it's not Raye ... then it must be Serena," Andrew suggested, and Darien came back to earth with a jerk.

            "No!" he snapped out, going cold all over, and Andrew held up his hands in surrender, his eyes wide with surprise.

            "Just joking," he said pacifically. "Phew, what a reaction."

            Darien ran a hand through his hair in embarrassment. "I just ... Well, can you imagine anyone more unlikely?"

            "Serena's not that bad, but you always were a little hard on her," Andrew said. "If you weren't so down on her, you might have actually noticed how sweet she is, and pretty. And," he said thoughtfully, "you must be just about the only guy in Azabu-Juban who hasn't noticed yet."

            Andrew flicked his straw across the table to get Darien's attention, and Darien looked up, his expression impassive.

            "You know what your problem is, Chiba?" Andrew told him. "You're too picky. You're never going to find your perfect dream girl."

            "I will one day," Darien said quietly, his voice tense. "I know she exists."

            "So you've met her, then," Andrew prodded.

            "Not ... really ..." He stared down at the table, unable to bear it any longer. He had to talk ... he had to tell someone or it would drive him insane ... and he began to speak.

            “There’s a girl. A long time ago she saved my life …”

For the first time he told Andrew about the accident, and as he spoke he stared down at his hands, unable to face the almost palpable expression of horrified pity on Andrew’s face. But now that he had begun, he couldn’t stop talking.

            "Why didn't you tell me?"

Darien couldn't look at Andrew as the young man finally broke the silence that had fallen between them, his voice flat with confusion and a little hurt.

            "I thought we were friends. I mean, I knew there was stuff that you didn't want to talk about, but this ... your family, the accident ... All this time, I never knew."

            Darien ran his hands through his hair, feeling tired and frustrated and heart-sick.

            “I … Andrew, it’s not something I like to talk about, or think about.” Darien’s mouth twitched in a bitter little smile. “There’s irony for you – the one thing I can never forget is not knowing. I don’t know anything about myself, and I can’t stop thinking about what it might be that I don’t know; I have nightmares about fire …” his voice trailed away into silence.

            “And this girl saved you.”

            Darien nodded slightly.

            “But you were only nine. The rescue squad didn’t see anyone else, and you don’t remember anything until you woke up.”

            “She was real.”

            “Even if she was …” Andrew was staring down at the table, as if he didn’t want to meet Darien’s eyes, his voice slow and reluctant. “Even if she was, and even if you somehow found her again one day, you’ve created a perfect woman in your mind who can’t possibly exist. You think you saw her for a brief moment, when you were a child, and in pain, and passing out from smoke inhalation and trauma …”

            “I’ve seen her!” Darien said before he could stop himself.

            Andrew stared.

            “I’ve …” Darien drew a breath “I’ve seen her. I’ve talked to her, and fought for her.” Out spilled the story of his dreams, and the princess who had kept him from killing himself when the unutterable loneliness and despair grew too bad to bear.

            He had to make Andrew understand. He had to talk, finally, after long, long years of silence, even if Andrew was looking at him as if he was insane. He was beginning to think that maybe he was.

            "Andrew, this dream I have ... this girl ... is the only thing I have left of where I come from. I don't know who she is, or where to find her. I only know that I have to find out, somehow."

            Andrew was watching him with a carefully neutral expression.

            "You mean, you think she's real? That your dreams are real?" His voice sounded strained. "Darien ..."

            "I know!" Darien ran one hand across his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look, I know this sounds crazy, but everything else is gone. I don't know who I am, or where I come from. I don't even remember what my parents looked like ..." his voice trailed away. He could see that look in Andrew's eyes. Darien turned away to stare out the window.

            "I believe in her," he said quietly. He ignored the cold little doubt at the back of his mind. "She's the only hope I have left."

            "So you're going to waste your life searching for a girl who probably doesn't even exist?" Andrew asked, almost sharply.

            "Until the end of the world, if I have to."

            Andrew was staring at him, his expression oddly grim. He opened his mouth, hesitated as if trying to decide whether to say something, then, "It's never going to happen, Chiba," he said baldly. "Your princess doesn't exist, and I wouldn’t be your friend if I didn’t say this. I don’t want to watch you drive yourself out of your mind over a dream."

            "Then don't watch," Darien said coldly.

            With an abrupt movement, dropping the coffee spoon with a ringing clatter, Darien pushed himself out of the cafe booth, barely pausing to pay the bill. He stalked out of the cafe, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, and almost didn't see Serena as he rounded the corner.

            Serena and her tall friend were standing outside the arcade, talking earnestly. They were up to something, and without realising what he was doing, Darien stood there while people pushed past him, watching Serena gesture melodramatically.

            "... but don't be disappointed when I sweep Andrew off his feet," Serena was saying to the girl, and Darien's hand clenched.

            Andrew again. She really was still in love with Andrew.

            _But what do I care?_ he thought bitterly. _Remember? Find the crystals and free the princess, and forget Serena ever existed._

            "Hey, meatball-head," he said a little savagely, the tension behind his eyes getting worse. He dropped a hand on her head, and Serena jumped, her golden pigtails spilling around her as she whipped around. She jerked away from his touch as if it had burned.

            "I thought I smelled a rat," she threw back rather breathlessly. She backed up against the glass as he drew closer, almost as if she were trying to avoid him, her face flushed. He glanced behind her into the arcade, and his frown deepened into a scowl.

            "Andrew's not working," he said abruptly. "He's helping his girlfriend pack for Africa this afternoon. Face it, he just isn't interested."

            "Go fall in a sewer someplace," Serena retorted, and they glared at each other.

            "I'm only trying to save you from complete and total humiliation. Believe me, it isn't a pretty sight," he told her. With a perverse sense of savage pleasure he saw her lip tremble. She stuck her chin in the air, working hard not to cry, and he hated himself even as he wanted to hurt her. Her friend moved behind her, arms folded across her chest and a fierce, protective light in her eyes.

            "Why would you care?" the girl asked belligerently.

            "Yes, why?" Serena repeated, and the look in her eyes was hurt. But he wasn't the only one who couldn't have what he wanted.

            "Meatball-head," he said casually. "Andrew and Rita are really tight, so why don't you just leave them alone."

            And fire flared in Serena's eyes as her hands closed into fists. "How many times do I have to tell you my name is Serena, not meatball-head!" she shouted, taking an abrupt step towards him, and Darien raised an eyebrow. They were back on familiar territory. Safe ground.

            "I know your name," he said provocatively. "Meatball-head."

            Serena spun on her heel, marching into the arcade before he could say anything else, and Darien shoved his hands into his pockets angrily, his expression darkening as the door closed behind her. He turned a forbidding look on Serena's friend who was still glaring at him, her arms folded across her chest.

            "What do you want?" he snapped.

            "What's with the hard time you're giving Serena?" she threw back. "Look, buddy. You may think you're hot stuff, but if you ever hurt her, you'll have me to deal with."

            And he lifted a cynical eyebrow. "Well, I'm scared." He shook his head a little. "Man, was I ever this crazy in junior high?"

            The dark look in Serena's friend's eyes grew thunderous, and her fists clenched. She was a big girl, with a punch that took him completely by surprise as she connected with his jaw.

            The last thing Darien saw for a few moments was her guilty expression as she bent over him on the footpath before his eyes rolled back in his head.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

 

Don’t know what to say

Don’t know where to start

I don’t know how to handle

A complicated heart

                                                                                [Jascha Richter]

 

            Inside the arcade, Serena stared blindly at the bright lights. Her hands clenched, digging into her palms, as she sniffed defiantly.

            "I won't let him get to me. I _won't_ ," she breathed. Her bottom lip wobbled. "What does he know, anyway?"

            "Can I help you?"

            Serena's head shot up and she stumbled over her own feet as the strange boy in the glasses and apron watched her anxiously. She caught herself on one of the machines.

            "A ... Andrew?" she gasped, choking on a startled lungful of air. “Where’s Andrew?”

            "Sorry," the boy said apologetically. He reached out to pat her on the back as she gave a last little hiccup. "Andrew's taking the night off and I'm filling in. I think his girlfriend's leaving for Africa tomorrow."

            But Serena had gone. She ran blindly through the familiar streets and shops, shivering a little as a sudden cold wind blew leaves and papers around her, and wrapped her arms around herself. Her cheeks still burned with embarrassment.

            "Stupid ... stupid ..." she muttered under her breath. She sat down on the edge of the footpath with a thump, the concrete cold under her legs. What did she care if Andrew had a girlfriend? She hadn't given him a second thought in weeks, and she sighed.

            "He's just one more guy who's not interested in me," she told herself dismally. "Gods, I hate it when Darien's right."

            Serena lifted her head a little to glare at the tangled golden pigtails falling across her face, and pushed them impatiently out of her eyes. Why couldn't she have had beautiful black hair like Raye? Why couldn't she move like Raye, and be graceful and clever, instead of never being good enough?

            She almost didn't hear the soft beep of her communicator. By the time she'd fumbled the pink plastic case out of her pocket and set out at a dead run for the park, Luna's voice over the tiny screen was scratchy with static and impatience. Serena ignored her and kept running until she rounded the park gate and skidded to a halt on the loose gravel. The Scouts were already there in uniform, and Serena quickly transformed.

            "What's up?" she asked tersely.

            Mars just pointed, and Serena sucked in a sharp breath. Andrew was sprawled unconscious as the monster stood over him. And Zoicite laughed, the sunlight bright and broken as it glittered on the sky-blue crystal in her hand.

            Serena froze as the woman flipped her a mocking salute, and looked up into the cold, monocled eye of the monster looming over her. The creature’s face split in a terrible grin.

            Serena nearly screamed as arms closed around her, scooping her up into a close embrace as Tuxedo Mask threw himself out of the way with her bundled tightly in his arms. For just a moment, Serena closed her eyes and breathed in his warm smell until she felt her feet touch the ground again.

            Tuxedo Mask stepped back, his arms falling to his sides, and Serena looked up at him warily. Without saying a word, he was gone. Sailor Moon stared after him, the battle around her forgotten, as he raced after Zoicite as the witch tried to escape with the crystal. His cane appeared and hissed through the air, spinning the petals away as Zoicite desperately flung her whirlwind of razor cherryblossom at him. And then, somehow, as Serena watched, he had Zoicite at his mercy, and the witch’s face was a mask of vicious bitterness.

            Something was happening. He was saying something and the witch was trying to stand, moving to proffer the crystal in her hand. Tuxedo Mask lowered his cane, just a fraction, but it was enough. Zoicite was gone, leaving only a hysterical, mocking laugh behind her.

            “Sailor Moon!”

            Serena’s head whipped around as Mercury screamed her name. She spun away to pull her wand out of the air, calling down the power of the moon and fighting to hold on to the wand as the moonfire poured through it.

            The monster vanished as the brilliant light washed over it, and Andrew’s girlfriend stood in its place, her eyes glazed before they rolled back into her head and she collapsed without a sound. Andrew was at her side in an instant, the Scouts hovering around her.

            But when Serena glanced anxiously around her, Tuxedo Mask was, of course, gone. She sighed. She should be used to that by now, and he'd made it perfectly clear that he was only in this for the crystals.

            "Sailor Moon."

            Behind her, the soft voice whispered down her spine, and Serena's hand leaped to her heart as she spun around too quickly.

            "Tuxedo Mask," she breathed. "You came back."

            Behind the mask, his mouth twisted in a brief, wry smile, and Tuxedo Mask's voice dropped to a whisper meant only for her.

            "Sailor Moon, I'm sorry. Losing the crystal wasn’t your fault," he said gently. “I fell for Zoicite’s tricks, and now the Negaverse has three.”

            Her eyes went wide.

            "Keep the music box. I want you to have it, and … no matter what I said, I’ll always be there for you."

            He was gone in a flurry of black satin, and Serena stared into space, as a dreamy smile crept across her face. The world was a wonderful place again.

            She held out her arms, the magic spinning away in the sunlight leaving a slim teenage girl in ordinary clothes with a huge smile, bright as the sun.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

 

I wish I’d never woke up this morning

Life was easy when it was boring

                                                                                [Sting]

 

            Serena found herself singing under her breath, unable to suppress the skip in her feet as she danced along the footpath, balancing for a moment on the curb.

            "He likes me, he likes me," she sang, and twirled around, wobbling a little. She paused as she saw a familiar figure, and then he looked up. She was sure Darien had seen her. He had looked straight at her for a moment, and she had braced herself for the usual exchange of insults ... and he turned and walked away.

            Serena dropped her arms to her side, her good mood spoilt. She was still thinking dark thoughts as she saw Lita and Amy ahead of her, almost at Raye's temple, and she broke into a run, grimacing as she caught up with them. Darien was the most ... annoying ...

            "Jerk," Serena muttered under her breath as she dropped onto the bench beside the temple gates, panting to get her breath back. Lita rolled her eyes as Amy leaned against the railing next to her.

            "Darien again?" Lita asked, none too sympathetically. "What did he say this time?"

            "Nothing."

            "Nothing?" Lita lifted an eyebrow.

            "He just ignored me," Serena said indignantly. She slid lower on the bench as Amy shifted her book-bag against her shoulder and turned a mildly curious look on her.

            "But I thought that was what you wanted," Amy said.

            "Yeah, but ..." Serena's voice trailed away.

            What was wrong with her today? Tuxedo Mask liked her. He really liked her, and he'd given her the music box ... well, he’d given Sailor Moon the music box, she reminded herself conscientiously. He probably didn't even know Serena Tsukino existed.

            Now, it seemed, even Darien didn't know Serena Tsukino existed. Not that she cared.

            She stared at the pavement between her feet as Raye came down the steps beside her.

            "What who wanted?" Raye was asking. She jerked her head towards Serena. "What’s got her all sulky?"

            “Darien,” Lita explained. “They’ve been at it again.”

            “Darien was here?”

            If Serena had been thinking clearly, she would have heard the strange note in Raye’s voice.

            “Did he … Did he say anything?”

            “Not so’s you’d notice,” Serena said darkly. “What do you want to make an idiot of yourself over a jerk like him for, anyway?”

            “Oh, come on, Serena,” Lita broke in, grinning. “Even you have to admit Darien’s a poster-boy for tall, dark and handsome. I bet he’s a good kisser …” Serena pulled a face “… and underneath that cynical exterior he must be more romantic than you think. Those flowers he sent Raye were just to die for.”

            “Actually, they were from this guy staying at the Temple with us for a while.” Raye shifted uncomfortably. “Darien’s not really into stuff like that.”

            Serena suddenly thought of the rose on her desk at home, and felt an odd little flush of guilt. She squashed the strange feeling quickly.

            “So who’s this new guy?" she asked slyly, ignoring the tiny voice whispering that Darien would be hurt. Darien’s feelings were none of her concern. “You didn’t tell us there was someone staying at the Temple. And giving you flowers … It must be lo-ove,” she teased, and Raye turned on her, dark eyes blazing with temper and hot embarrassment.

            "It’s not like that!" Raye shouted, her fists bunched up. "The only guy I'm interested in is Darien, and nothing's going to change that."

            "... lousy taste ..."

            "I can't hear you," Raye snapped.

            "I said, it’s not my fault you’ve got lousy taste in men. I’m only trying to save you from the worst mistake of your life."

            "Hah!" Raye folded her arms. "You’re always sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong."

            "Sticking my nose in?" Serena's voice lifted a couple of decibels.

            "You really are a meatball-head, or you would have noticed what a great guy he is. And you know what I think?" Raye added provocatively. "I think you're just jealous that I've got a boyfriend and you haven't."

            "Yeah, right!" Serena sniffed. "Just don't expect any sympathy from me when he breaks your heart."

            "You wish. Just because you can't get a boyfriend ..."

            "I'd rather die alone than date a ... a ..." she groped for the word to sum up her feelings and put Raye in her place "... jerk, like him," she finished lamely. Her heart just wasn't in the insults.

            "Totally gorgeous jerk, thank you. _My_ totally gorgeous, tall, dark and handsome jerk," Raye said smugly, sticking out her tongue. Serena returned the favour half-heartedly, suddenly feeling a strange sinking. Raye was really serious about him and it was obvious he was madly in love with her. Who wouldn't be?

            Serena squelched the tiny stab of envy as Raye lifted one graceful hand to push all that beautiful, raven-black hair out of her eyes impatiently, and she sighed miserably.

            "You know, Darien's right about you."

            Serena's head lifted swiftly.

            "What's he been saying about me?" she cried jealously.

            "Spaghetti brains to go with the meatball hair," Raye taunted.

            Serena's eyes widened in shock as Raye jabbed her in the chest with one finger. She knew he said stuff like that to her, but now he and Raye were laughing about her together behind her back? That was the last straw, and before she could stop herself, the tears spilled over as she slid off the bench with a thump.

            She vaguely heard Lita exclaim, "Raye!"

            "Raye, that's enough. I'm sick of having to break up your preadolescent fights," Amy was saying angrily as Serena buried her face in her arms and sobbed. She barely noticed Raye standing over her, arms folded, as she swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, then Raye squatted in front of her.

            "Oh, stop wailing," Raye sighed. Serena choked back another sob, and took the handkerchief Raye was holding out to her. She rubbed at her damp cheeks.

            “What’s gotten into you lately?” Raye asked as Serena blew her nose. “One minute you’re all over Tuxedo Mask, and then you’re flirting with Andrew, you and Lita. And now you’re getting even weirder than normal about me and Darien, and crying for no reason.”

            Serena cried harder.

            “Everything’s all upside down,” she wailed. “I wish I knew what was going on. One minute he acts like he might actually like me, the next he’s cold as an iceberg. I never know what he’s thinking. I just don’t understand men.”

            “Tell me about it,” Raye sighed. “At least Tuxedo Mask actually turns up when you need him.”

_Tuxedo Mask._ Serena flushed to the roots of her hair. _Of course._

            “How dumb can I get? Falling for some stranger in a mask.” Serena gave a little hiccup. “Not that it makes any difference. If he ever finds out who I really am …”

            “He’d be even more crazy about you than he already is.”

            “Get serious,” Serena sighed. She made a vague gesture with the damp handkerchief at her grubby school uniform and the bruises on her knees. “Do you really think that someone like me even stands a chance with someone like him? I mean, you all keep telling me I’m a hopeless case, and I can’t even pass maths, and even thinking about fighting monsters makes me queasy, and … well, just look at me.”

            Raye tilted her head. “What about you?”

            “Oh, come on. I’d give anything to be even half as pretty as you.”

            Raye just stared at her for a moment.

            “You’re kidding, right?” Raye said slowly, and Serena frowned a little. “Okay, I agree you’re a klutz and a right royal pain sometimes, and there are times when I just really want to give you a good hard shake and make you take things seriously for once, but, Serena, I wish …” Raye voice wobbled a little “… I wish I was more like you.”

            “What? Serena the Hyena? Meatball-head, never on time, always falling over her own feet …”

            “You bounce into a room and everybody notices you. Everybody smiles …”

            “Everyone laughs at me,” Serena muttered into her folded arms.

            “You make people feel good, and even Darien pays more attention to you than he does to m … to anyone else. It’s like some kind of magic you have, and you don’t even know how lucky you are.” Raye gave a tiny sigh. “Believe me, Tuxedo Mask really does like you. Everyone does.”

            “You don’t,” Serena said in a small voice.

            “Of course I do, idiot.” Serena felt a hand brush her hair tentatively. “You’re my best friend. I have to like you.”

            Serena looked up from her arms.

            “Best friend?” she said slowly.

            “What?”

            “Me?”

            Raye turned her head, her dark hair swinging across her face as she picked at a spot on her skirt.

            “Of course you are, meatball-head,” the priestess said gruffly, her face still hidden. “Who else would put up with me?”

            There was a long silence.

            Suddenly, unable to restrain herself, Serena launched herself at the raven-haired girl and engulfed her in a fierce hug. Then Serena was gone again, sprinting down the footpath, leaving a startled Raye in her wake.

            Why couldn't Raye see that Darien was all wrong for her? Raye deserved so much better, and with a perfectly nice new guy around giving her flowers … Why did she really care who Raye dated? So Darien could be a complete jerk, but he could be so sweet when he wanted to be ... and when he smiled …

            As her feet jarred against the footpath, running blindly, she reached up in surprise to touch the tears she hadn’t realised she was still crying.

_It’s not fair!_ she wailed silently.

            She hadn’t meant to run so far, and it was with a shock that she realised where her instincts had led her, through blurred and watery vision, just as doors of the Crown Arcade slid open in front of her with an electronic noise, and she smacked into a warm, solid, and all too familiar body with bruising force.

            Her hands closed involuntarily on his shirt as she caught her balance, and she looked up into Darien’s dark eyes. He let go abruptly.

             For one panicked instant they stared at each other.

 


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

 

Shadow in my heart

Is tearing me apart

Or maybe it’s just something in my stars

                                                                                [Sting]

 

            As he stood in the doorway of the arcade, Darien suddenly found himself with Serena standing between him and his sanity, staring up at him in something like dismay.

            “You’d better treat her right,” Serena said abruptly, stumbling over the words a little. “Or I’ll … I’ll … I don’t know what I’ll do, but you won’t like it.”

            In a confused moment, all he saw was her damp lashes and pale, blotchy face.

            “Serena …” His fingers closed on empty air, and she was gone.

            Behind him, Andrew had stopped stacking the dishes.

            “Well, that was strange,” Andrew said, shaking his head slightly. “You know, between you and Serena, this place is looking more like the Twilight Zone every day.” He turned back to mop down the counter.

            “She’s been crying,” Darien muttered, still staring after her.

            “I’m sure she’ll be okay.”

            “Okay?” Darien’s head snapped around to turn a look of disbelief and a strange anger on his friend. “Didn’t you see her face? Something’s wrong.”

            “Since when do you care if Serena’s upset?” Andrew asked, a bewildered note in his voice. “You’re always on her case about something…”

            As Andrew fell suddenly silent, Darien looked up. Andrew was staring at him, damp cloth forgotten in his hand, as if a new and rather unsettling idea had just occurred to him.

            “You’re gone on her, aren’t you,” Andrew blurted out tactlessly, and Darien felt his expression freeze. He made an involuntary movement of denial.

            “You are, aren’t you,” Andrew persisted. “Rita said something like this was … Oh, man! I thought there was something up with you. Why didn’t you say something?”

            “It’s not going to happen,” Darien said.

            “And Serena’s been acting weird … weirder than usual,” Andrew amended conscientiously. “I knew there was something going on.”

            “It’s not going to happen,” Darien repeated savagely. The sickening pain twisted at his heart. “She’s made it clear what she thinks of me, and whatever I think of her doesn’t matter. There’s someone else.”

            Andrew frowned slightly. “Not Raye? I thought …”

            “Of course not Raye,” Darien said shortly. He should have known better than to even say this much to Andrew, and his nails dug into his palms, hoping Andrew would let it drop.

            “I can’t fall for Serena.”

            “Because of this dream of yours? Wake up and smell the coffee, Darien. This dream isn’t real. Serena is!” Andrew almost threw the cloth at the counter, and Darien flinched at the angry concern in his friend’s eyes. “Serena may be a bit of a ditz sometimes, but she’s bright and sweet and beautiful …”

            “I know!” Darien heard his voice break as he pushed sharply away from the bench, catching himself as he stumbled a little over the barstool. “I know.”

            He turned and almost ran from the arcade, his breath catching in his throat, and as the dream caught at him and blinded him with sudden pain and darkness, he felt himself falling hard and fast.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

Restore my broken dreams

Shattered like fallen glass

I’m not ready to be broken just yet

                                                                                [Sting]

            _“Why?” he screamed into the billowing sky, livid and shattered around him. “Why are you doing this to me?!”_

_And he flung himself over and over again at the resisting air until he fell to his knees, his hands clutching at the unforgiving rock beneath. As the lightning ripped the sky he could hear her crying, and the sound tore at him._

_“Why?” he whispered._

_“Have faith,” her voice begged him, broken and tearful. “Everything will be alright.”_

_Darien curled in on himself, slowly going numb with pain, and he closed his eyes._

_“I can’t live without you,” the lost whisper reached him, and he squeezed his eyes tighter until the darkness flowered with bursts of light and agony that exploded into something fiercer. Darien bit back a scream as pain seared along his nerves and the darkness roared with an invisible fire._

_“No …”_

_Savage heat beat at him, burning him, eating at him._

_In the noise of screaming, tortured metal that filled his mind and made it impossible to think beyond the pain, he was trapped once more in the burning ruin of his life and there was the sound of someone crying … he was crying … a girl, crying and calling his name …_

_He whimpered, his lungs scorched and dry. Through the inferno, through the blackness and pain, he felt a girl’s hands tug at him, her voice sobbing with terror. He cringed away, but she wouldn’t let go._

_“Don’t leave me!”_

_Then guilt and anguish wrenched him apart, leaving him broken and twisted in the conflagration. There was nothing left but pain._

It was several moments before Darien realised that the ground underneath his cheek was cold and gritty. He slowly and painfully lifted a hand to his eyes, noting in dull surprise that the flesh under his glove wasn’t blackened and burned, that his hands were a man’s hands and not a nine year old boy’s.

            His fingers trembled horribly, and slowly he curled them into a fist to stop the shaking that was threatening to pull him apart. With some difficulty, he levered himself to his feet and swayed slightly.

            He felt hot and sick.

            As his vision blurred and cleared, he looked up and realised why he’d been summoned through the dream. His breath caught as he saw Sailor Moon in the darkness, hanging painfully by her wrists from a beam overhead in the warehouse they were in.

            _Something’s wrong._

            He was already moving, one hand reaching to pull a rose out of the air. Sailor Moon was trapped.

            _Something’s very wrong._

            Even as he moved out of the darkness into the faint puddle of light, his instincts screamed at him, and Sailor Moon dropped. She fell to the crates below, straightening with an odd little smile that wasn’t right.

            And Darien realised how stupid he’d been as she pulled off her costume with a little flourish.

            “Zoicite.”

            “The one and only,” the witch said brightly. And she was gone. Darien stumbled a little, turning too fast as everything spun around him, but he couldn’t find her in the shadows. He had the nasty feeling that he was being stalked, and he shook his head slightly, trying to clear the spots across his vision.

            “You know,” Zoicite’s voice drifted out of the darkness. “I really don’t like you.”

            “I’m not very fond of you, either,” Darien responded dully.

            “You’ve wrecked my plans. You’ve stolen two of my crystals,” she said conversationally. “My queen’s really not happy about that. And that trick of yours, playing hero to the Moon brat, is really getting old. What do you see in that whining twit anyway? You should just let me squash her and save us both a whole lot of headaches.”

            “Do you really think you could?” Darien allowed himself a brief, pained smile. “She’s kept you on the run, hasn’t she?”

            “Oh, please. Jedite and Nephrite may have been complete morons, but you don’t seriously think I didn’t figure out who the real ringleader is? Give me some credit, Cape Boy.”

            He caught a flicker of movement in the shadows and watched it warily.

            “Take you out of the equation, and no more Scouts. But somehow I thought you’d be more of a challenge. Did you seriously think that was the real Sailor Moon?”

            “If you’re going to kill me, quit gloating and just do it,” Darien interrupted. As a hot, sick wave of nausea and guilt swamped him, he welcomed the idea with relief.

            “What, and take all the fun out of it? No, I don’t think so.”

            She stepped forward into the dim light. “And if I just kill you now, you’ll never get these, will you?” The witch held up a handful of glittering crystals. Five of them. Without thinking, Darien lunged at them and gave a sudden cry in the stinging blizzard of cherry blossom. He fell back as Zoicite’s laughter rang around him, touching the back of his hand to a razor thin cut. And froze.

            “The hero unmasked,” Zoicite taunted above him.

            He stared down at the shredded mask at his feet, his heartbeat sounding funny in his ears.

            “So now we know.”

            He never saw the attack coming. He didn’t even try to stop it, turning blindly to meet it, as pain lanced through his shoulder and the witch laughed. The world exploded in agony, then an unfamiliar voice called out and Zoicite screamed in frustration.

            He looked up slowly, and some dim part of him noted a slim girl fighting the witch, cornsilk hair flying against her amber sailor suit. As the battle raged overhead, he flinched, his eyes dazzled by the fierce light in her hands, and they narrowed as he caught a different kind of glitter.

            The witch was distracted, fighting hard to defend herself against this new, relentless attack, and there was a faint sparkle of crystals in her hand, riveting his attention. Five were in her hands. Two were his, tucked safely in his shirt pocket. This was his chance.

            _“Tuxedo Mask!”_

            His attention fractured as Sailor Moon’s voice echoed through him, rocking his heart with a sickening lurch. Somewhere, Sailor Moon called out to him again, and she was fading fast. Darien was running before he even had time to think, before he had time to wonder how he had heard her.

            The whole world narrowed down to her small pale form in the distance, trapped in a globe of sickly light, and he clutched at his heart as she folded and crumpled, caught by Mercury’s arms. Sailor Moon struggled to stand again as Jupiter lifted her hands and flung lightning at their prison. Darien could hear the screams as the white lightning ricocheted around them and vanished. The globe still held them fast, and as he flew towards them, he could see them fighting against the force of the globe.

            And as he passed another pile of crates, he could see the source of the magical prison. Pale and cold in the cloudy afternoon, a man whose face was hidden by his long white hair held one hand outstretched, watching the girls he had caught with a clinical fascination. He flexed his hand, and the four girls screamed.

            The air beside the tall, cold man flickered and rained cherry blossom, and Darien slammed to a stop, flattening himself against a stack of crates as Zoicite appeared. The witch was breathless, her voice cracking with fury even at that distance. Darien watched in dismay as she spoke rapidly, and the man with the strange white hair and eyes like ice turned to glance around them.

            “Malachite,” Darien breathed. The fourth, and most dangerous, general.

            And the most dangerous general flicked his fingers again casually, and Darien gasped with pain as Sailor Moon screamed and slumped, her whole body bowing with agony as she slid to the ground.

            As the dark spots across his vision cleared, he realised that Zoicite was calling his name.

            “Come out and play, Cape Boy.” Zoicite’s eyes were darting around, her voice sounding a little shrill. “Hand over the crystals, or your little fan club is finished.”

            He froze, unable to think, with the wind cold on his bare face. And his heart gave that sickening little lurch again as Sailor Moon called his name. His hand moved, reaching for the crystals.

            There was an amber flash and a streak of gold, and Darien heard Zoicite’s shriek of pure fury, and a faint grunt of surprise from the pale man. The crackling forcefield exploded in a shower of sparks and the Scouts were free, staring in shock at the golden figure standing over them with a big grin on her face.

            The fifth Scout had arrived.

            In the confusion, the witch and the pale man were gone, and Darien hid in the shadows, shaking uncontrollably, one hand lifting to touch a mask that wasn't there anymore.

            He had never felt so naked and vulnerable.

            His hand closed over the crystals he held, the facet edges cutting into his flesh as his grip tightened. There was nothing left for him to do here; the amber Scout had done it all, and they hadn’t needed him.

            As he closed his eyes, he could hear Sailor Moon, her voice a little shaky as she asked, “Where’s Tuxedo Mask?” He imagined a look of disgust on her face. “Do you think he’s …”

            "We didn't need him anyway," Jupiter's voice carried mercilessly on the still air, and the stab of anger that shot through him died as quickly as it had been born.

            He was nothing now, worse than useless, and he had almost betrayed everything in a moment's stupidity.

            As Sailor Moon turned her head, eyes anxiously watching the shadows, he stepped back and disappeared into the darkness. She didn't need someone who could be fooled so easily. He closed his eyes, feeling sick at heart. How could he have been so stupid? Following that fake Sailor Moon like a little lost puppy.

            She would never know how close he had come to giving Zoicite exactly what she wanted.

            He stepped into the silent darkness of his apartment and staggered slightly as a wave of dizziness swept over him, clutching at the hot stinging of his shoulder.

            He would have handed over the crystals with barely a thought and given up his only hope of finding the princess, and it would have achieved nothing. And slowly, he drew his hand back, slamming his fist against the wall.

            How could he have been so stupid?

            It was all eroding around him. Why was he so ready to throw in everything? How had he come so close to risking everything that mattered, and his princess’ last chance, to protect Sailor Moon? His judgement was shot to hell, and as he closed his eyes in pain, he knew why. He cared.

            He covered his bare face with his hands as the magic left him and Tuxedo Mask vanished. He had seen Sailor Moon, frightened and white under the theatrics, and he had reacted.

            Darien started laughing, and couldn't stop, pushing his hands savagely through his hair as he slid to the floor.

            He'd lost.

            He'd lost everything.

            Slowly, he became aware of the faint glow that lit up the gloom around him. Darien lifted his head.

            "Nice place you've got here," Zoicite's glowing image said conversationally.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

 

If there’s one guy, just one guy

Who’d lay down his life for you and die

It’s hard to say it

I hate to say it, but it’s probably me

                                                                                [Sting]

 

            Darien's eyes narrowed.

            "Zoicite," he hissed. "How did you find me?"

            Her image shrugged, looking around with bright, curious eyes.

            "Oh, it wasn't hard. Did you ever find your mask again?" she asked conversationally. "It was such a fashion statement."

            Then her tone grew sharp. "Now listen up good, Cape Boy. I'm going to make this real easy for you. I want you out of the picture. You can say what you like, but without you, the Sailor brats aren’t going to be much of a challenge. And we both want the crystals, so let's save us both some time. You come to the Starlight Tower and bring your crystals, and I'm prepared to make you an all or nothing offer."

            "You can't be serious," he said flatly, and Zoicite raised an eyebrow.

            "Oh, I'm serious." She was flipping the ends of her hair absently, watching him thoughtfully. "A fight for the crystals, winner takes all. I'll be waiting at the Tower."

            Darien said nothing.

            "And Darien?" Zoicite's voice was gently mocking. "You should get that shoulder seen to. It looks painful."

            Then she was gone and Darien was staring into space, fighting the urge to run and bolt his apartment door. What good would that do, now they knew who he was? _Some secret identity_. He gave a gasping, hysterical laugh.

            There was nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide, but he had one last chance to redeem himself. The crystals.

            Darien pushed himself unsteadily to his feet, suddenly aware of the sharp pain in his arm. If Zoicite was serious ... If this wasn't a trap … But she’d as good as told him it was. And what choice did he have?

            Darien swayed slightly, his hand going to the savage throbbing at his shoulder. One way or the other, he would walk away with the crystals for his princess, or die in the attempt.

            With a certain calm fatalism, Darien put one hand to his inside coat pocket, feeling the hard shapes of the crystals inside. Without thinking, he reached out to the empty space where the music box had been, then stood there, one hand still raised, as he stared blankly at the photograph beside the bare and dusty space. His hand moved, tracing the faces in the photo with one finger.

            "I hope my memories are worth it," he whispered to his parents.

            He turned and walked quickly and a little unsteadily, closing the door on his empty apartment.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

 

If this was all correct

The last thing I’d expect

The prosecution rests

It’s time that I confessed …

                                                                [Sting]

 

            Serena was trying not to cry as she flew down the school steps. Since the battle with Zoicite, when Venus appeared, everything had been going wrong. Jedite and Nephrite had been dangerous and terrible, but they hadn’t scared her like Zoicite had, with her strange little laugh and those eyes … Serena shivered violently.

            For the first time, she’d had the feeling that they really wouldn’t have made it out of that fight alive, if it hadn’t been for Venus turning up like that.

            Then Tuxedo Mask had vanished, and now she’d had detention on top of everything else. And Raye was really going to not be speaking to her now.

            She sniffled a little, wincing as her bag smacked against her knee. It wasn’t as if she didn’t try. Why couldn’t Raye see that?

            “And she’s just going to be so self-righteous,” she muttered breathlessly, reaching out one hand to slow herself as she took a corner too quickly, and she skidded to an ungainly halt as someone rounded the corner ahead of her. There was that familiar fall of dark hair, the arrogant set of his back that she'd know anywhere, and did he actually have any jacket other than that one? Darien seemed to be walking a little unsteadily, and Serena bit her lip. She felt her palms, damp with nerves, and almost turned and ran away.

            "It's just Darien," she told herself. Her hands clenched and unclenched nervously in the pleats of her skirt, and she drew a deep, determined breath. _For Raye’s sake …_

            "I just have to act normal, that’s all," she muttered. "Just like always."

            She sucked in another breath, and pattered after him.

            "Hey, Darien!" Serena caught him a blow on the shoulder, beaming wickedly up at him as he winced and turned to her. "There was a bee on your back ..." she broke off. Maybe she had got his attention a little too hard.

            "Thanks, meatball-head." His mouth lifted in that familiar, cynical smirk, and Serena felt oddly disappointed. _Well, I wanted normal, didn’t I?_

            "I hate it when you call me that," she sulked, glaring up at him.

            "I'm sorry. I won't do it again," Darien said softly, and Serena's eyes widened in surprise. He actually sounded like he meant it. As she stared at him, his eyes seemed dazed and vague, with a strange flicker of something in the dark blue depths as he looked down at her.

            "Serena."

And he smiled at her. An unbelievably sweet smile that sent her dizzy and brought the stars showering down around her. Serena was frozen to the spot, mouth agape in shock, as he walked away.

            _No._

_No way._

_Not Darien._

            She couldn't be feeling this way about Darien. She hated Darien, and fought bitterly with him, and he was going out with her best friend. Tuxedo Mask was the mystery and romance she’d always wanted … but … the one who made her head and heart spin until she didn’t know what was happening was …

_No._

            Somehow as the world turned upside down, snatching her breath with terrifying suddenness, she knew …

_Oh, no._

            It had always been Darien … ever since they’d first met …

_No, no, no._

            She stared blindly at her hands, shaking so hard that she had to clench them tightly, and that was when she noticed.

            "Blood," she whispered, staring at the sticky crimson stain on her palm. "Darien's bleeding."

            He was walking away from her, one hand clutching at his shoulder, and her fingers closed over his blood. Without even thinking about it, she followed after him. As he stopped in one shadowed alleyway, leaning heavily against the wall beside him, she reached out to touch his shoulder, and jumped back with a startled squeak as he rounded savagely on her.

            He lowered his hands slowly when he saw who it was, the tension easing only a little in his expression as she looked up into his bleak midnight eyes.

            "What do you think you're doing?"

            She pushed herself away from the wall she had stumbled against, pouting mulishly.

            "It's just me. Cool your jets, would you." She frowned slightly as his hand went to his shoulder again.

            "You startled me," he told her indifferently.

            "Well, you don't need to go ballistic, Darien. I was just worried."

            And his mouth lifted in that cynical smile. "What for?"

            “Because you're bleeding." Serena folded her arms, glaring at him. She had been worried. She had actually been worried about the jerk.

            She swallowed the gasp of sympathetic pain as he flinched and stumbled. His face was almost white, the lines around his mouth tense with pain.

            "What do you care, anyway?" he asked bitterly. His blood was still warm and sticky against her hand, and Serena looked up into those dark blue eyes, remembering a smile and a few moments in an artist's studio.

            "You're Raye's boyfriend, aren't you?" she reminded herself hopelessly. She didn't see the strange glance he gave her, then he turned to walk away.

            "Just leave me alone. It's not serious."

            "Not serious? You're bleeding!" she yelled after him, almost stamping her foot in fright. "I got a C plus in first aid - I can tell!"

            Once again, she ran after him as he staggered. She could hear the breath he sucked in, and then there was a soft implosion and Darien's head lifted quickly. Serena looked around, startled, as a cherry glow swallowed them. In the sudden light, Serena saw Darien's mouth move, his hand flung out to her protectively, and she had just enough time to think _Oh, no …_ before her vision went suddenly dark and she collapsed into unconsciousness.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

 

There’s just no rhyme or reason

Only this sense of completion

And in your eyes

I see the missing pieces

I’m searching for

[D. Hayes & D. Jones]

 

            As the cherry light faded, Darien pushed himself to his knees and looked around. From the windows of the Starlight Tower, he could see the city stretched out below, then Zoicite crossed his vision, her boot heels tapping slowly on the marbled floor. She rattled a handful of crystals as she stared at him thoughtfully. Her gaze shifted past him to the girl crumpled on the floor behind him, and Darien moved imperceptibly between Zoicite and Serena's unconscious figure. Zoicite smiled brightly.

            "I hope you enjoyed the ride," she said conversationally.

            "A fair fight, you said," Darien reminded her emotionlessly. He watched her through narrowed eyes.

            "Of course." She tossed the crystals gently, catching them with a dull clatter. Carefully, Zoicite bent and placed them on the floor, backing away slowly. "I've shown you my crystals. Now you show me yours."

            Behind him, Serena groaned faintly. Oh, gods, wouldn't Serena have the sense to try and get out of here while she still could? Darien reached inside his shirt and drew out the missing crystals. Warily, he knelt and put them beside the other stones on the floor without taking his eyes off Zoicite. He straightened and stepped back.

            And white-haired Malachite was there, out of nowhere, the crystals in his hand. Darien cried out, lunging towards them, stumbling as Malachite and the crystals vanished. He turned furiously on Zoicite.

            "You offered a fair fight!" he spat angrily. He should have known better than to trust Zoicite anywhere near his crystals.

            "Well, someone had to hold them," she chided. "You'll get your fight, but you'd better run." Zoicite laughed brightly. "If you're not on the roof in ten minutes, I'll assume that you've forfeited the fight, and the crystals."

            The floor shattered under his feet, and Darien stumbled backwards as it exploded upwards in jagged shards. He heard Serena's scream. All around them shards of crystal erupted, and Darien snatched up Serena's hand, dragging her out of the way.

            "I hope you can run. You haven't got much time left," Zoicite's voice reminded them, dissolving in a whirlwind of cherry blossom, and Darien and Serena ran for their lives.

            "The lift!" Darien was close on the heels of a panting, sobbing Serena as they made for the open lift, crystals slamming through the floor all around them.

            "Aren't you supposed to use the stairs in an emergency?" she gasped. Darien pushed her, none too gently, through the lift doors. The doors slammed shut with a dull boom, and, as they both whirled around, vanished. Serena clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle a squeak.

            "We're trapped!" she wailed, backing up and almost tripping over Darien. He caught that faint breath of her perfume, closing his eyes for a moment.

            "I'll never let anything hurt you," he said softly. "I'll get us out of this somehow."

            The lift moved slowly upwards, shuddering slightly. Darien found himself watching Serena's face beside him as she stared out through the window at the city lights dropping away below them. She breathed on the glass, rubbing at it with a small hand in a jittery, impatient movement.

            "This is taking forever," she complained softly. She traced a pattern with one finger. "It's like slow torture."

            Suddenly, she frowned, and looked up at him.

            "So why do you want the crystals?" she asked, her expression a little wary. Darien shook his head a little, wondering if he had heard her right. And then it sank in. Serena knew about the crystals. The rest of what she was saying was lost in the confusion, and Darien tried to make sense of it.

            How did she know about the crystals?

            "I need them to find out who I am," he said without thinking. Serena's eyes widened, startled.

            "What do you mean?" she asked. "You're Darien Chiba.”

            Darien sighed. "I don't know." He raked his fingers through his hair, settling his back against the wall behind him. "You see, there was an accident back when I was young, and I lost my memory. My parents died ... or at least that's what the doctors told me ... but I can't remember what happened, or anything about myself before that. I don't even know if my name really is Darien Chiba."

            Why was he even telling her this? And yet, he couldn't stop himself. Serena made a faint, unconscious sound of distress, and he gave her a slightly shaky smile.

            "It's okay. It never really used to bother me much," he lied, "until I started having these dreams. There's a girl ... a princess ... that I'm trying to find, and in my dreams those crystals are the key to free her and find out who I am." He sounded defensive, but Serena was watching his face seriously.

            "Poor Raye," she breathed, and Darien looked at her, startled.

            "Huh?"

            "Your princess. It sounds like you love her very much," Serena said a little wistfully. She sighed, and Darien found her fingers closing around his hand, warm and comfortable, as she reached out.

            "It must be hard, not knowing who you are like that."

            "One day, I'll find out," he said softly. "Hey, thanks for listening, meatball-head."

            _Way to go, Darien_ , he silently berated himself as she jerked her hand free with a small scowl.

            "You just don't let up, do you?" Serena sniffed. "You said you wouldn't call me that anymore. You do remember _that_ , don't you?" she asked pointedly. She folded her arms across her chest, and Darien's mouth quirked in a small smile. She was so cute when she was mad.

            "Okay, I'm sorry ... Serena."

            "That's better." She tilted her nose imperiously. Then a small, half-smile melted in those blue eyes. "Anyway, I'm glad you told me. It explains why no one seems to know much about you; you don’t know much about yourself either.”

            Darien must have given her a strange look, because she turned pink, avoiding his eyes.

            "Well, I wondered a little," Serena said, a little defensively. "You don't say a whole lot about yourself, and all I know is you go to university with Andrew ... and I'm still trying to beat your Sailor V game score ..."

            "I didn't know you cared."

            His head was spinning a little with dizziness and his shoulder ached. He reached up one hand to touch the sticky patch gently, almost passing out as pain shot through him. And the look in Serena's beautiful eyes was the one clear thing left.

            "I care," she breathed, and turned a faint pink as her gaze dropped to stare fixedly at her foot tracing a pattern on the floor. She wouldn't look at him as her blush deepened.

            He suddenly didn't care about the crystals anymore. If he could just get Serena out of danger...

            "I do care," she whispered, and finally lifted those big blue eyes of hers and the heavens opened up, all azure and gold and blinding starlight.

            Darien was falling fast.

            Something happened. As everything spun around him he reached out blindly in the dizzying arc of light and touched her hand, and clung, and that was so very wrong. And infinitely right.

            And he was kissing her.

            Dear gods, he was kissing her. Serena made a faint little sound of shock against his mouth, then her eyes closed, and she was kissing him back. His fingers were tangled in her golden hair. He was drowning in the taste of vanilla icecream and roses, and Serena was the only thing keeping him from falling as his world reeled beneath his feet.

            They fell apart, stumbling, as something above them exploded with a thunderous sound. A rush of heat swept over them and Darien threw up his arm to shield his eyes, staring into the fireball roaring towards them down the elevator shaft.

            "Zoicite!" he shouted furiously. He couldn't let anything happen to Serena.

            Serena...

            Serena was staring up at the fireball, muttering something under her breath. She shot him a quick, frightened look, and screwed her eyes shut.

            And her hand shot into the air.

            "Moon ..."

            Something was happening.

            "... Prism ..."

            Darien's mouth fell open in shock.

            "... Power!"

            "Serena?" he whispered, as magic spiralled around her, transforming her. "Sailor Moon?"

            And her eyes opened, a fierce blue fire behind them, as she pulled a crescent-shaped wand out of the air. _Gods, she was incredible_ ... Serena was Sailor Moon?

            Serena was forcing her way through the inferno, countering fire with crystal fire.

            Darien's heart almost froze with fear.

            What the hell was she doing, going up against Zoicite on her own? She was going to get hurt. She was going to get herself killed, and he'd never get over it.

            Darien flung himself after her, ignoring the pain ripping through his shoulder.

            "... and in the name of the Moon ..." Through the smoke and shadows and thick dust, he saw her facing down Zoicite, his furious and beautiful Serena, even though he knew she was shaking with fear. "... I will punish you!"

            For just one moment, he couldn't help watching her, a small smile flickering at the corners of his mouth. She never could resist the melodramatic gesture, could Serena. He wondered that he'd never noticed before that Serena and Sailor Moon both shared that same passion and sense of drama. It all made a weird kind of sense now.

            “Come out and play, Cape Boy!”

            He stepped out of the shadows.

            "But Tuxedo Mask's not even here," Serena was saying.

            "Oh, yes, I am," he responded wryly, and she turned.

            Zoicite smiled with triumph as he walked towards them, but Serena's big blue eyes widened, one hand covering her mouth in shock. He thought she took a step towards him, thought he heard her whisper his name, then his attention snapped back as Zoicite moved forward mockingly.

            "So. Cape Boy's decided to join us," she said lightly.

            “Get out of here, Serena,” he said fiercely, moving between her and Zoicite. “This is my fight. It doesn’t concern you.” He desperately prayed that she would take the hint and get out of there while Zoicite was focused on him, but Serena had never been good at hints.

            “ ‘Course it concerns me,” she told him bluntly. “Hello? Sailor Moon here.”

            He turned on her savagely, his voice cracking a little, and she winced. “I don’t want you getting involved!”

            “I know!” she shouted back. “I know, the kiss didn’t mean anything; I know I don’t mean anything, and Raye didn’t mean anything, and you want your princess back. Well, don’t worry. After this, I won’t be involved anymore, and I hope you’ll be very happy together, and … and … You know, Darien, you don’t change, even when you’re being Tuxedo Mask. You’re still an arrogant creep.”

            As she tilted her chin defiantly he caught a hint of a damp sniff, and then the sound of Zoicite laughing softly.

            “My, my. It sounds like someone’s been a naughty boy. Leave you kids alone in a lift for a few minutes and you just can’t keep your hands off each other.”

            She was walking towards them.

            “Get out of here,” Darien hissed at Serena.

            "I know you have to save your princess," she responded a little wistfully. She gave him an unhappy little smile. "It’s alright."

            _I don't care about the princess!_ he screamed silently. _As long as you're safe!_

            He turned on Zoicite. "You'll have your fight, just let her go."

            "I wouldn't have it any other way," Zoicite said smoothly. He didn't trust that bright little smile, but it didn't matter what happened to him if it gave Serena enough time.

_Gods, why wasn't Serena moving?_

            "Well, come on then," Zoicite purred. "Let's get it over with."

            Then all hell broke loose.

            He vaguely heard Serena scream as the wicked shard of quartz flashed in the dim light, distantly saw her throw herself towards him as the shard lanced into his back.

            "Darien! No!" she shrieked.

            He felt her catch at him, falling with him to cradle his head, and the pain slammed through him. Zoicite was laughing. Through the cascade of agony, Darien felt the faint drip of tears on his face. He looked up, trying to see through the waves of darkness across his vision, into Serena's blue eyes. Another tear slid down her cheek to fall in the corner of his mouth, and another, falling faster now. Was she crying for him?

            "Darien," she whispered, so that he could barely hear her. "Stay with me, Darien. Don't you dare leave me now."

            She was pleading with him, breathing his name, and he realised with wonder that it was him she was clinging to. Darien the jerk. It was him she was cuddling closer as if she never wanted to let go. And the last missing piece fell into place as he looked up into his Princess's endlessly blue eyes.

            _Serenity._

            With a faint sigh as he tried to reach up to touch her beautiful face, Darien slid into unconsciousness.


	30. Afterimage

**Afterimage**

 

And if I’m falling

I’m falling like a stone

In my nightmares

You still hold me

                                                                [Sting]

 

            “That was when I passed out.”

            Darien broke off his story as Serena shifted to get more comfortable, dangling her long legs over the arm of the couch. He reached up to rub at his shoulder. Even after all these years, it still twinged occasionally where he’d been stabbed by the crystal shard.

             “I don’t remember what happened after that, or how long I was under Negaverse control…”

 

            _Darien fell into the darkness._

_He cried out as he fell through the fire and darkness and dreams, the sound breaking and disappearing in the inky heat. He was caught in the searing pain and he was all alone again. Always alone …_

_“No!!” Serena’s cry followed him down into the sunless depths, catching at him as he sank. How could so much heartbreak and love be for him?_

_Something else responded to the despair in that lost voice, and rainbow fire ripped across the darkness, showering sparks across his vision. And then the seven rainbow crystals, so bright that he could see them even in this nightmare dark, exploded into silver brilliance._

_Darien flung up an arm, blinded by the white hot light that flared brighter than the sun for an instant and left him staring at the dim afterimage of Serena standing protectively over him, the Imperium Silver Crystal made whole from rainbows in her hands and radiant with power._

_In the sudden blaze of glory she was more than the schoolgirl he knew and the uncertain superhero he protected. She was incandescent, a royal gown spilling around her feet, and he could smell the heady scent of roses. Then that too was gone._

 

            “Three months,” Serena said quietly, her fingers knotting themselves with his. “Three long, horrible months.”

            He blew out a soft breath. “It just felt like a nightmare that wouldn’t end.”

 

_The darkness was more profound than ever before. Something dragged him down into the impenetrable depths, something that refused to let him remember how to wake, and he felt the panic rising. He felt strangely unreal, and lifted a hand, turning it in the darkness as if surprised that he still had a hand. It felt as if his body was a long, long way away. After ten years of searching he’d found everything he’d been looking for, so why was he still lost?_

_Darien tried to force down the cry of despair that was welling up in his throat as he turned blindly in the empty black void. There was nothing to see, to hear, to touch._

_Nothing, and he was all alone._

 

            “If only I hadn’t been stupid enough to let Zoicite distract me,” Serena said bitterly. “Those were almost the worst moments of my life, when you collapsed, and then all it took was a second while Malachite grabbed you, and I couldn’t even stop him.”

            Darien tightened his arms around her. “But you got me back.”

 

_Then she was there in the darkness beside him with Serena’s blue eyes, Serena’s smile._

_“It can’t end here!” he cried. “Not when I’ve just found you.”_

_Her smile brightened._

_“You’re not going to lose me that easily,” she whispered, and she shone in the darkness for him like a galaxy of stars. “You found me in the darkness and set me free, love, and now it’s my turn. Hold fast, and I will find a way to bring you back.”_

_Darien closed his eyes, the darkness forgotten in the touch that was warm sunshine and pure magic as her lips brushed his. He heard the dear, familiar giggle that stole his heart._

_“Wait for me,” she breathed, and then she was gone._

            “I should have been faster,” Serena muttered.

            “I knew you’d find me, and what was a few more months of waiting? I’d been waiting for you for all my life.”

            “For your princess, you mean,” she said with studied indifference.

            Darien watched the top of her head as she picked at the edge of the leather cushion with her free hand. Without the thought of her, he would have gone mad alone in the darkness.

            “I waited a thousand years to be reborn with you,” he said softly, his thumb tracing patterns on the back of her hand. “Heck, I fought monsters for you. I fell in the lake. I let Peggy talk me into modelling because it meant that I got to be near you. I hated Andrew with a passion for a while because you smiled at him.” He sighed. “I’d always thought of myself as sane and logical, but in the space of a few weeks you had me going nuts. I even went to a doll show with Raye to try and make you jealous,” he added, making the supreme confession.

            Serena tilted her head back to stare up at him.

            “A doll show? You? So all that stuff with Raye was just to make me jealous?” She pouted, and Darien resisted the urge to lean down and kiss that piteous, and insincere, expression. He could see the wicked little gleam in her blue eyes. “And I thought you hated me, for the longest time – you always acted like you couldn’t stand to be in the same room with me, and I don’t remember you ever opening your mouth without insulting me. What was all that, with the meatball jokes, and picking on my maths?”

            Darien grinned faintly. “You were so cute when you got mad. And I would have said anything to get you to look at me with those big blue eyes of yours.”

            Serena thought about that for a moment. “Oh.”

            She settled back against his shoulder, tucking her feet up under her on the couch.

            “So you weren’t disappointed, then?” she asked in a tone that tried to be casual and failed miserably. “When you found out that she was me?”

            “Disappointed?” Darien almost laughed. No, disappointment had not been among the bewildering array of reactions at that moment. Relief, yes. Confusion, revelation, terror, delirious joy. And blinding pain, of course.

            “Since I first met you, I’ve done every stupid thing under the sun.” His wry smile was hidden in her hair. “And I’ve had more amnesia than just about anyone else in medical history, but it’s all worth it for this.” He lifted their joined hands, until the lamplight caught in the facets of Serena’s heart-shaped ring. After everything he’d put her through over the years, he still couldn’t believe that she’d agreed to marry him.

            “I would have waited for ever for the chance to be with you like this.”

            Serena turned in his arms, her golden hair spilling like heedless sunshine over them as she reached up to touch his face with gentle fingers. The brilliance of her smile was almost blinding.

            Her sigh was warm and sweet … “ _Love you …_ ” as her lips met his, and once more, Darien was lost in the taste of vanilla and roses. All that was left of the world was the woman in his arms, and the magic when she kissed him.

            Yes, he would go through it all again for this.

 

_Darien looked into the sightless void, deeper and darker now that her light was gone, but he wasn’t alone._

_Princess Serenity._

_Sailor Moon._

_For her, he would wait forever._

_He held out his arms to the darkness, an unbidden smile dawning in his midnight eyes. She was there for him._

_“Serena.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading Since We First Met. I hope you've enjoyed it. I am very grateful for any and all comments and critiques of my work.


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